Toward the Terra A Novelization
by AzureKate
Summary: A novelization of the Toward the Terra anime. One episode one chapter. I will do my best to stay true to the anime. I am writing this simply because I love it so much and it has really impacted my life. M for violence and a lot of main character death. Chapters will be edited and reuploaded as I go.
1. Section 1- Day of Awakening

SECTION 1- DAY OF AWAKENING

 _Our memories._

 _Our beautiful home, Earth…Terra._

 _Due to pollution and the destruction of the environment as a result of human civilization, this planet became a place where people could no longer live. Forced to come up with a solution, humans formed a special governmental system called Superior Domination. They abandoned the ruins of Terra…and searched for a new world in space._

Lightning crackled through the sky, and thunder sounded across the city. The buildings rumbled with the fury of the heavens that swirled with dark, menacing clouds. Sparks exploded from the impact of the bolts, igniting trees and grass—only to be extinguished by the never-ending rain pouring over the area.

Despite the dreadful weather, the interior of the mysterious building was calm and still, devoid of any hint to the storm raging outside. There was a long hallway; it was lit by dim violet lights, the air chilled and crisp. It stretched onward with no doors, windows, or decorations. At the end was a doorway with no door—a sheer, purple chiffon portiere concealed the room beyond. Peaceful harp music was playing nearby, echoing through the hallway and bouncing off the walls. The sound was ethereal, sending chills down the spines of those who heard it.

The young boy walked down the calm hallway cautiously, staring in confusion at the unfamiliar walls; clean and colored a deep blue. He had soft golden hair, and eyes green like the forest. He was sorely out of place: he wore green pajamas, with no shoes or socks. Even with his clothes, the expression of confusion on his face was enough to give away the fact that he had no idea where he was, or what he was doing there. How had he arrived in this place? Where did the hallway lead?

He made his way curiously toward the door, wear the harp music was loudest. He approached the portiere and peeked through; he was able to see through it to the massive room beyond. There was a large staircase that went up too high for him to see where it led; to the right, another smaller staircase. Both staircases had intricately designed gold railings, and looked to lead to terraces. The floor and stairs all looked to be made of beautifully-polished marble. In the center of the room stood a tall sculpture that looked to be composed of several different planets, with gold ribbons weaved between them. Saturn at the bottom, perhaps Jupiter at the top. The boy searched the harp but couldn't see any within sight—yet the music was clearly coming from somewhere within the room.

Beyond the sculpture and the terraces, the room appeared to go on forever into darkness. It was like looking into an abyss.

The boy stepped out from behind the chiffon drapes, and into the doorway.

Sitting on the staircase leading to the floor of the room in front of him was a man. He was cloaked in a long green robe. His skin was a dark ebony tone, and his black hair was cut very short—he had a sharp widow's peak. Teardrop earrings dangled from his ears, and there were two lines painted on his face like tattoos, running through the center of his eyelids vertically across both sides of his face, from his hairline down to his chin. He held a lyre in his arms, the instrument the boy had been unable to find within the room earlier. He must have been the one playing the beautiful music.

He looked at the boy over his shoulder, and the music ceased. He stared in silence, with deep, dark eyes. He stood from his place on the staircase and faced the blond boy; seeming discomforted by his presence, he went up the staircase to the doorway. Before passing through, he slowed to stare at the boy for a long moment. The boy, unsure what to make of the encounter, simply stared back in surprise. The dark-skinned man turned away at last, and passed through the doorway peacefully.

" _Welcome, Soldier."_

The voice was eerie and echoed through the abyss-like room, almost like a wind chime. The boy's attention was seized completely. He turned back to face the interior of the room, and finally noticed that at the base of the smaller staircase, there was a small table with a woman sitting beside it. Tarot cards were spread across the glass tabletop, and the woman was holding a single card in her hand that read "Wheel of Fortune." She almost looked like she was staring intensely at it…until the boy realized her eyes were sealed shut. As long as he stared, he never saw them open.

But staring at her face awakened him to her beauty. Her skin was fair, and perfectly flawless. Her lips were tiny, and very pink. She wore a long, flowing purple gown, and her blonde hair was so long, it gathered on the floor. Shimmering gold jewelry sparkled on her body: a beautiful golden necklace inset with a ruby sat on her collarbone, and long oval earrings dangled from her ears behind the hair framing her face. She had an aura about her that consumed him. She was intriguing and mysterious. He'd never seen her before, yet she was so familiar.

Realizing they were alone in the room, the boy assumed her greeting was for him. He walked down the staircase toward her, approaching her curiously, and straining to see her cards and how they were set up.

He opened his mouth to greet her, but when he went to speak, the words that came from his lips were not his own. _"Are you fortune-telling again?"_

The boy covered his mouth in shock. It wasn't him who had asked the question—the voice was undoubtedly deeper. Yet the words had definitely come from his mouth.

The woman replied in his direction, _"Yes, I can see our future on Tarfel."_ She smiled sweetly, her face looking right at the boy—but now he realized it was not directed to him.

Once again, another man's voice seemed to come from the boy, who stood there in awe at what seemed to be happening. _"Our…Mu's future."_

Finally, things fell into place. An unknown force pushed the blond boy backward a few steps, and as he stepped back, he felt himself being pushed from within something. He watched as he emerged from the back of another person. He stood a few steps behind him, staring at his back intently. This was a completely separate person, who had been standing in the same place as him, in the same room, and had been speaking to the woman before him. The boy looked at himself—he himself was ghostlike; he was see-though, and was glowing like a spirit.

The young man before him had an ethereal face, with perfect features and flawless skin, just like the woman. His cropped hair was as white as snow, and his eyes as red as blood. On his head, he wore some kind of headset that covered his ears. It was unlike anything the boy had seen. He wore an ecru-colored coat and dark gray pans, with matching ecru boots. Draped from his shoulders was a dark blue cape that went to the floor. Though it gathered slightly on the polished marble, it wasn't the least bit dirty. The floors were so clean, the fabric was kept ethereal itself. But the man's face was the most ethereal…his eyes were deep and almost sorrowful. He had an aura unlike anything the boy had ever felt.

Now the woman spoke directly to the man standing in front of the boy. _"The awakening of a lion will come upon us. A great power will be added to our headwaters."_

But the man shook his head. _"That's enough."_

He turned, and walked toward the staircase. His cape cascaded behind him, flowing almost like water. The boy stared at it, entranced by its movement. He had no idea what kind of fabric it was made from. The man spoke to the woman as he walked, though he did not look at her, _"What's the power? Weapons? Or personnel? If we get it, can we fly out to space?!"_

He stared up at the planet sculpture with a great sorrow in his eyes. A deep sadness could be seen on his face. He stared at the top planet with a longing that struck the boy's heart as though the emotion was a physical knife.

The woman stood and faced him, though her eyes still never once opened. She didn't answer his questions. _"Soldier."_

Seeming to overcome his moment of sadness, he turned to look at her over his shoulder again. _"Show me your Terra again."_ He smiled sadly at her.

She gave him a sincere smile, and stepped away from the table. She walked toward him with the confidence of someone with their eyes open. She knew exactly where she was, and exactly where he was in relation to her. The boy watched as she approached him. Perhaps she was blind. The woman reached out and took the man's hand. _"Okay."_ She lifted his hand up, and held it dearly as though she was holding the most delicate object in the world. _"Leave your soul with me and match your wavelength with mine."_

The words made no sense to the boy.

However, suddenly the room seemed to be vanishing from around him. He could only imagine the feeling he was experiencing was something akin to being pulled back out of reality. The room was pulled away from his vision like rubber being stretched, and the boy fell into a void.

Behind him was a magnificent galaxy, shining with color.

Though he couldn't see her, or the man with her, he could hear the woman's voice. Now it felt that she was speaking directly to him. _"This is the Galaxy. Can you see it?"_

The boy screamed in terror; he was being sucked through space toward the galaxy. Despite his panic, he could hear the man's voice replying. Once again, it felt like the voice was coming from within him. _"Yes, it's beautiful."_

The stars flew past the boy so fast, they looked like mere lines of line. Then everything fell still, and the boy looked at what was before him.

But the man's voice spoke aloud from within the boy once again. _"The sun… My life is too short for me to fly that far. …I must entrust someone with…"_

The boy cried out again, staring in horror at the approaching sun.

"… _my life. My memories. I need someone who will live my future!"_

Suddenly, the boy was struck with a pain resonating through his entire body. Yet the pain felt strange, as though it was not his own. Somehow, he knew the pain belonged to the white-haired man who was speaking through him.

Before him, the sun was gone. It was replaced with an image of a beautiful, blue planet. It was unlike anything the boy had seen. But it was crackling with static, like he was staring at a corrupted screen.

The man's pained voice rang in the boy's head desperately. _"Someone, someone, someone!"_ The boy felt the man's pain reach its peak, and he screamed—right at the boy— _"Someone!"_

The last thing the boy heard was the woman's panicked voice, _"Soldier!"_

* * *

The boy shot upright with a scream.

He was breathing intensely, grabbing at what he could reach. But all he felt was the soft comfort of his blanket. Beside his ear was the ringing of a familiar alarm. He took a moment to breathe, and realized he was in his bed in his home, with the sun shining through the window.

It was all just a dream… _again._

Sweat poured down his face. It was a dream. He'd had the dream before. But every time, the dream had felt so terrifyingly real. He knew that he must have been experiencing the event in the dream through the eyes of the white-haired man. His pain had felt so real. His agony and sadness. The boy felt like it was his own.

But now he was back in his room, away from the stormy place he didn't know. He took a long moment to catch his breath before silencing his alarm. It was normally a nuisance, but in this moment…it was a comfort.

On the first floor, the boy's father sat at the table, dressed for work, drinking coffee. He wore a crisply-ironed white shirt with a green tie, and his hair was blond and his eyebrows thick. His mother was wiping off her hands on a cloth. She wore a dress and an apron, and had shoulder length black hair that was a straight as a pin. She called toward the staircase, "Jomy! Hurry or you'll be late for school!"

Jomy, from his back, called, "Right away!"

His mother gave a defeated sigh at his tardiness and less-than-enthusiastic reply to her call. From the table, her husband smiled. "What's wrong? He's like this all time."

She walked toward him with a worried aura about her. "But that boy, he'll be fourteen tomorrow. It's his Day of Awakening." She watched her husband gulp down his coffee. "After he takes his adult examination, he's gotta make it on his own."

He stood up from the table, setting down his mug. "Every boy's like that." He gave her comforting smile, which never failed to make her feel better. "Parents tend to worry if their child will be all right…but then they pass the exam and become adults."

Jomy came into the room, dressed in a tan sweater and deep brown pants. He had managed to compose himself after his elaborate dream. "Good morning, dad, mom!" He sat at the table, and his mother shadowed him.

"Hurry up with your breakfast and leave or you'll be late again."

Jomy gave her a corny smile. "Don't worry. With these legs of mine, I have plenty of time."

His mother wasn't amused. "There you go again!"

"I'm eating!" Jomy exclaimed, ignoring his mother's clear dissatisfaction with his response.

His father stared at him, "Jomy. You shouldn't worry your mom so much."

But thirteen-year-old Jomy was painfully oblivious. "What worry?" He ate a sausage.

His father swung his pale green coat over his shoulder. "I guess, like, don't run to school and get into an accident on the way."

"I don't get it."

"I'll be on my way." His father stared toward the door.

"See you later," his mom replied.

"Oh, right. I'll be home early tonight. We'll celebrate the eve of the Day of Awakening with a little party."

"Right on!" Jomy exclaimed.

"My, this child!" His mother's mood finally seemed to be improving a bit. Even his father's spirits were raced.

"See you."

"Have a nice day!"

But his mother wasn't letting him off the hook. "Hey! You've gotta hurry too!" They heard the sound of the garage door opening.

* * *

Jomy rollerbladed down the sidewalk, with the ping of a possible tardiness pumping his adrenaline. Ataraxia, the City of Education, was an exceptionally peaceful place. The houses were gorgeous and well-kept; the trees were green and flowers in full bloom. Lawns were mowed, concrete driveways un-cracked. Students were walking down the sidewalk on their way to school, while the white-collared adults drove past in their sparkling cars on their way to work.

Jomy was quickly catching up to his friend on his rollerblades. As he passed his friend going full speed, he called, "Sam, you'll be late at that pace."

Sam, out of breath and sweating through his letterman's jacket, wasn't too happy with his friend's actions. "Jomy! You're breaking the rules using Speed Wheels!" Sam tried to run faster.

"It's better than being late! See ya!" He waved and took off even faster, and the distance between the friends was quickly growing.

"Wait! That's not fair!" Sam yelled.

The school's massive glass walls and windows were sparkling serenely in the sun. Jomy, having arrived at school just on time, set his rollerblades in his locker.

"Good morning, Jomy."

Jomy turned to face the girl who'd greeted him. "Oh, Suena." Suena was a beautiful girl with long blond hair, pulled back in a pink bow. She had blue eyes as clear as a pool of water.

But she had a stern look on her face. "Hurry up. Class is about to begin. Isn't Sam with you?"

A locker slammed behind them, and they both looked. Sam was hunched over at the end of the row of lockers, breathing heavily. They could practically feel the heat emanating out from inside his green letterman's jacket.

Suena stared at Sam, concerned. "Sam?"

"I-I made it," he struggled to say through his breaths.

Jomy whistled at him. "You're quite an athlete, you really pushed it."

Sam rushed forward and grabbed Jomy by the collar with both fists. "Jomy! You!"

"Wh-what?"

Suddenly, the voice of a teacher rang through the hallway. "Jomy Marcus Shin." The thick guidance counselor was standing beside Suena with her hands on her hips, glaring at Jomy unhappily. Her blond hair was curled, as usual.

Sam and Jomy stared at her. Sam was still holding Jomy by the collar. "Yes?"

"Come to the counseling room."

Sam released Jomy, and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder reassuringly.

"S-sure."

* * *

In the lunchroom, a group of friends were gathered around one of the round white tables, bolted to the black and white checkered tile. Jomy sat on the tabletop, with Sam sitting backwards in a seat and Suena standing beside him. Sam leaned in toward Jomy, who had just finished describing his dream.

"Really? A good looking girl, huh?" Sam prodded.

"The same dream?" Suena asked. Jomy agreed.

Sam was uninterested. "But that's so lame of you… How could you let a handsome guy enter the scene?"

"You idiot. I'm sleeping. It's not as if I can control that."

"Hmm… But what's the meaning of that 'Mu's future' the handsome guy mentioned?"

"I don't know. It was like "Mu's future, our future," so maybe Mu is a race."

On the far side of the room, a security camera had locked in on the group of friends. It focused on Jomy.

"Mu, huh?"

Later that day in gym class, Jomy—part of the blue team for their soccer game—called out to his team member, "Bring it out front! Out front!"

"What are you doing? Get back!"

The ball flew far up into the air. The came down directly above Jomy, who bounced it off his chest, and then clicked it mercilessly into the goal. Sam—the goalie—jumped to try and stop it, but was too slow. The ball hit the net, sending a ripple across the ropes before falling to the ground. A whistle pierced the air.

Jomy, on the ground, threw his fist up. "Yeah! We take the lead!"

As though to ruin his great mood, a tiny hovering sphere flew down to him, with a camera lens gazing right into his eyes. From its top, a tiny yellow flag shot up, and it said in an automated voice, "Offside."

Jomy was horrified. "Wh-what?!" He stood up and balled his fist at the referee automaton. "What was offside about that? I checked the line before I dashed out!"

The automaton had no reply, and didn't budge. It just hovered in front of Jomy's face, glaring through its lens while its yellow flag flapped in the wind.

Sam, wearing a red jersey, walked up to his friend with the ball tucked under his arm. "Oh, well. We're still tied. Let's keep the game going." Two more hovering automatons glided over.

Jomy reached out and grabbed the daring automaton in his face, and it's panicked electronic voice rang out from its spherical body. "Wha-wha-what?" Jomy raised the sphere up and threw it down onto the ground of the playing field. The yellow flag broke off, and tiny bolts of electricity crackled around the damaged area. The sphere's voice glitched out, and grew deeper in tone as it spoke. "O-o-o-offside!" It died.

Jomy stood there angrily. Sam stared in surprise. The two other automatons hovered around his head, repeating _"Eject! Eject! Eject! Eject! Eject!"_

Jomy pushed one away from his face. "Shut up!

" _Eject! Eject! Eject! Eject! Eject!"_

The two automatons continued on repeat while Suena watched Jomy storm off the field from the sideline. "Jomy…"

* * *

Now, Jomy was in the counseling room. The counselor, in her pale pink blazer, let out an exasperated sigh. She stared at Jomy with a concerned look on her face. "I've been counseling for many years…but you're the first student to case not one but two problems on the day before his adult examination."

Jomy sat with his hands folded in his lap. "The referee robot was malfunctioning."

The counselor held her face. "Yes. Sure it was, after your impressive blow." Jomy frowned. "All right. Go back to your classroom. Say your goodbyes to everyone properly."

"Right," he sighed.

Back in his classroom, his counselor was explaining. "So, the Day of Awakening is the day you take your adult examination and move into the society of adults." She stood at the room's teaching podium while Jomy stood beside her, staring out over the students of his class without focusing on any particular one. "I'm hoping that Jomy will be considered to join the Members."

But Sam, a few rows in, called out, "Not a chance. They're a group of elites who lead humanity, right? In Jomy's case, forget his grades…there are too many problems with his personality."

The class erupted with laughter. Jomy frowned at his friend, but the counselor was bothered by the joke. She looked at him. "Now Jomy, make your final remarks."

With an air of confidence, Jomy folded his hands behind his back and looked out over his peers with a smile. "I don't believe I was offside when I took that shot earlier."

The class laughed harder, and _now_ the counselor was worried. She stared at him with a furrowed brow. With a slight arrogance, Jomy closed his eyes and looked away from her.

That evening after school, Jomy was leaving the grounds beside Sam and Suena. Suena smiled at him, "You were just like yourself, right to the end." But Jomy wasn't satisfied, and stopped walking. His friends stopped and looked back at him.

"What's wrong, Jomy?" Sam asked.

Jomy turned back around to stare at the school grounds. "Just think, I'll never be coming back here again." His friends fell silent, watching their friend as he stared at their school, sparking in the sunset. "It makes me feel a bit lonely."

Suena chuckled at his sudden weakness, and he turned to look at her. She was smiling warmly. "Growing up is a wonderful thing. So, it's strange to feel lonely about it." Jomy was staring at her, wide-eyed.

He tried to smile. "You think so?"

"Pull yourself together! You're becoming an adult sooner than us." She approached him, and kissed him on the cheek. "I pray that you pass the adult examination with flying colors. Good luck!"

She turned and broke into a run down the sidewalk, reaching back to wave at her friends. Sam watched her go happily, but Jomy was discontented. _"Goodbye, Suena,"_ he thought with a heavy heart, fearful that once becoming an adult, he would never see his dear friend again. A heaviness fell upon his heart.

But the lighthearted Sam held something up to him. "A birthday present." He smiled. "Take it."

Jomy reached out and took his present, staring at it with amazement. "It's the Dreamworld Hundredth Anniversary Commemorative Pass!" He was overwhelmed with such a strong happiness—he stared at it.

"You really wanted it, right? It's got my name on it though…"

Jomy was practically bubbling with happiness. "Thank you. I'm really happy!"

"We'll always be friends," Sam said with a grin. "I hope we can meet again someday as adults!"

Jomy smiled, nodded, and held his present close.

* * *

Back in his room that night, Jomy sat on his neatly-made bed. He was leaned over a well-kept photo album, studying the pictures inside. He heard a knock on his door. "Come in!"

The automated door slid open, and his mom was standing in the doorway. "Oh, my. What are you looking at?" He smiled down at the photo album, full of pictures of him with his parents when he was younger. His mom didn't even need to walk over and look at them to know what they were pictures of. "Photos from our visit to Dreamworld." She walked over and sat beside him on the bed.

"Yeah," he agreed. "We won't ever go there together again, will we?"

"Of course not," his mother replied. "You're about to become an adult."

"Hey, mom."

"Yes?"

"Won't you feel lonely? I'll be gone from his house after tomorrow."

His words struck his mother like knives, and it showed on her face. She quickly teared up, and grabbed Jomy in a hug, pulling him close. Jomy dropped the album onto the floor as his mother cried over him. "Jomy," she sobbed, "There's no way I'm not gonna be lonely. What a silly question." Her tears streamed down her face, dripping into Jomy's hair. "But, a human can't be a child forever. No matter how lonely one gets, or how one may suffer…they must still become an adult."

"Mom…"

"You'll be just fine. You'll have no problem making it on your own, Jomy."

* * *

"This is Universal Control. AD06223."

The cylindrical building towered over the city, reaching to the sky like it was reaching for god. It—and all of its accompanying buildings—were glowing with an orange hue from the lights. The sky was dark and covered with ominous clouds. The orange glow from the buildings reflected on the cloud, like the glow of a distant fire.

"There are indications that the Mu have made contact with Jomy Marcus Shin. We request an immediate in-depth psychological test."

A huge truck sped down the empty highway away from the tower, its orange headlights lighting the way. And with it went a feeling of dread.

At Jomy's house, a feast was nearly prepared for the celebratory party. Jomy's mother was laboring in the kitchen, scrubbing a dirty pot clean when the doorbell pierced the silence of their house. She looked toward the door. "Oh, darling! He really has come home early. She left the pot, and went to the video screen beside the door. She pressed the button to see who was outside their front door. "Hello."

But the person she saw was not her husband. It was a man in a stark white coat, with glasses and a mustache. Behind him, another man in the same clothing. In the distance, the large ominous truck.

The first man held a badge up to the camera for her to see. "We're here from Universal Control. Is Jomy in?"

"Y-yes."

The man with the mustache looked back to his companion and nodded to him. The second man walked forward toward the door, going out of the view from the door's camera.

"Um, has Jomy done anything?" his mother asked with sincere concern.

The door opened, and she gasped. Not two, but three white-cloaked men stepped inside into the dark doorway. "Excuse us." Jomy's mother opened the door to their kitchen and blocked their path.

"U-um, wait a minute. What is going on here?"

The man with the mustache stepped forward to the front. "The management center has requested that we do a psychological test before tomorrow's adult examination."

"Psychological test?"

Upstairs, Jomy was just finishing his shower. The streams of steaming water died off, and Jomy wrapped a towel around his waist. He pulled the door to the side and stepped out of the shower, headed for the drink machine. With the press of the left button, a cup popped out. But no matter how many times Jomy pressed the right button, no drink ever filled that cup.

Instead, a thin purple gas spurted from the machine, filling the shower. Jomy breathed it in and quickly grew dizzy, and within seconds he had lost consciousness. He collapsed onto the shower floor, still as stone and barely breathing.

The door slid open, and two of the men in the white suits were there in the doorway wearing ominous gas masks. Their eyes were concealed behind dark, tinted purple glass. Jomy's mother stood several feet behind him, watching them with great discomfort. The two men stepped into the bathroom and looked down at the unconscious boy. "Okay. Let's carry him to the test vehicle."

Outside the bathroom, his mother stood with the man with the mustache. "Is everything really all right?" she prodded, practically begging for any kind of better explanation. The two men in the bathroom lifted Jomy up and began to carry him out.

"Please do not worry," the man replied. "We're just analyzing about thirty thought and emotional patterns. The men carried Jomy down the hallway, and his mother looked on in horror.

"Hey! At least put some clothes on him!" she cried. She stormed over to the bench outside the bathroom and picked up Jomy's neatly folded pajamas, and held them to the men stubbornly. "Here."

The mustached man rushed over. "You're not even a blood relative," he snapped at her. "Aren't you getting a little too emotional?"

Defeated, Jomy's mother handed the pajamas to him, instead, and stared at the floor in sadness. The man nodded to the others, and they continued to carry Jomy out. "Please leave the rest to us."

Outside, the Universal Control truck was parked in their driveway, blocking Jomy's father from finally arriving in his small yellow car. His father parked his car on the street, and approached his wife who was standing outside the trailer impatiently. She saw him approaching, and ran toward him in a panic. "Darling!"

"What's going on?" he asked, staring at the trailer.

Inside the soundproof trailer, Jomy was strapped into a chair in the test chamber. There were bars holding his hands and legs in place, and a bar around his neck. He was inside an egg-shaped machine that was spinning around him. Jomy was screaming in agony. Whatever the men were doing to him was painful and invasive, and there was nothing he could do to resist them. From the terminal controlling the machine, the mustached man leaned over the tech who was running the examination. "Now at level nine." Jomy's agonized screaming could barely be heard from beyond the wall where they were working. "If we go any further, there's the risk of a mental breakdown."

This pain reminded Jomy of the pain he felt in his recurring dream…the pain that the white-haired man would feel. And it was almost unbearable. This was _real._

"Any psionic reactions?" the mustached man prodded, leaning farther over his tech and staring at the screen.

"None detected."

"I see." He stood up straight and looked through the glass at the boy strapped to the machine, practically being tortured. "If he is a Mu, he would've either awakened or gone into a mental breakdown long ago."

Jomy's eyes were as wide as they could go, staring right into what he believed to be his death. But suddenly, the machine's spinning slowed. The pain began to subside.

"Very well. We'll conclude our testing."

His restraints released, and Jomy's body was spent. His head collapsed forward as he quickly lost consciousness and everything went dark.

The men carried Jomy back into their house, and his parents followed. Jomy was returned to his bedroom, where his mother sat on the bedside and diligently watched over him. His mother stroked his face lovingly, staring at his serene expression while he slept.

Outside, his father watched the Universal Control's test vehicle back out of their driveway and leave.

"Nothing abnormal was found. The adult examination will take place tomorrow as scheduled. Please put your mind at ease." The mustached men had reassured them.

But Jomy's father stared at the departing truck with a heavy, suspicious heart. "'Put your mind at ease?' Yeah, right." He walked back inside, and looked at the table full of uneaten food his wife had spent so much time preparing. "She put in a lot of effort."

He heard the clicking of her heels as she came down the staircase from Jomy's room. "How's Jomy?" he asked. She looked at him.

"He's sleeping well." She walked over to stand beside him in their dining room. "I made a whole lot, but looks like it's all gonna go to waste."

"We'll eat it tomorrow. His birthday is tomorrow, after all."

His wife reached out and clutched the arm of his coat. Tears began to fill her eyes. "I'm not qualified to be a mother…seeing how I feel all this sorrow on my child's Day of Awakening." She curled against his arm, and her tears streamed down her cheek.

But her husband didn't chastise or scold her. He just smiled down at her. "I understand how you feel…but we need to behave like adults, too."

Upstairs, Jomy was sleeping soundly. All of Jomy's pain—even in his unconsciousness—had finally subsided. Even though he was asleep, Jomy could feel a serene sense of comfort. An energy caressing him while he slept.

Beside his bed, watching over him, was an apparition of the white-haired man. He glowed like an angel, staring down at the sleeping Jomy with a calmness that was unbefitting to the agonized, terrified man Jomy had seen in his dreams. He seemed to have found a comfort somehow, and that comfort seemed to be Jomy. He watched him with a smile, his eyes soft. _"Jomy Marcus Shin."_ His ghostlike voice echoed through the room, but Jomy didn't stir.

Jomy didn't even know he was there.

* * *

The next morning, Jomy was dressed in his beige and red coat, a brown shirt, and brown pants. He came down the staircase, feeling revitalized. He had a new air of confidence. It was as though something had soothed all his worries overnight. He could still feel the calming comfort caressing him like a hug, although there was nothing there. It felt like he had someone watching over him.

He looked at his parents confidently. His mother was cleaning up the dishes, and his father was looking down at him proudly.

"Dad, mom, I'll be on my way."

His mother went to stand beside her husband. "I'm sure you've already been told in school, but you're free to go wherever you want on your Day of Awakening. You'll be done with your adult examination before you even know it."

"Mom, thank you for yesterday. I'll try my best to become an outstanding adult. So, you don't have to cry anymore."

But those words looked like they might make his mother cry. "Jomy."

"You take care, too, dad." His father gave a grunt of approval, and his mother started to tremble with sadness. She was visibly holding back tears. Jomy began to back away, then turned and broke into a run toward the door.

"Goodbye!"

"Jomy!" his mother called after him. She tried to run after him, but her husband grabbed her arm with a firm grip and shook his head. She began to cry as she stared at the unmoving doorway her son had just passed through for the last time.

Far away in Universal Control—which was now free of its dreadful orange glow, and was glittering in the sunlight—all of the new adults were being closely monitored on their Day of Awakening. "Maria Jones moving along Second Street. River Christy is approaching test room twelve. Prepare to guide."

A tiny woman was sitting at terminal A05. "Jomy Marcus Shin has begun to move. Surveillance level RED-3."

A security camera's view of Jomy was visible on the massive hologram screen. Two men in suits were watching him closely from above the observation terminals.

"He just received an in-depth psychological test yesterday. Keep a close eye on him."

Near his house, Jomy was boarding a bus. He scanned his card, and the automated voice said, "Thank you for your patronage" as he climbed the steps into the body of the bus. He took a seat next to another man he didn't know, and stared out absentmindedly.

" _Where should I go?"_ he thought.

On the bus's small screen, an advertisement for Dreamworld was playing. A woman was standing in front of it with her child. _"Our fantasy space…the Fanatic Dreamworld. The Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, underground coaster and rare animals…"_

"I wanna ride that!" the child yelled, pointing to the screen.

"… _are all open for your entertainment!"_

"It urns round 'n round!" The kid was so excited. On the screen was a picture advertising the rare animals exhibit. The animal pictured almost looked like a fox, with the wide eyes of a lemur, the tail of a squirrel, and the feet of a rabbit.

Jomy looked around. He thought to himself, _"I see. This bus goes to Dreamworld."_ The bus was full of parents and children. Jomy thought back to looking at the photos of himself at Dreamworld with his own parents. It warmed Jomy's heart. _"I rode that coaster long ago. I was clinging to mom because I was so scared… Why not go there? Dreamworld."_

And with that, Jomy made up his mind. He rode the bust to Dreamworld, where a significant group of park goers were gathering to indulge in the fun of the theme park. Jomy joined the group approaching the entrance, looking around with a powerful feeling of nostalgia. "Wow. It hasn't changed one bit." He watched a coaster cart zoom past on its tracks.

Curiously, Jomy approached one of the rare animal exhibits. He could hear the voice explaining the creature to the group of onlookers. "The Weeping Mouse is from Mars."

A small girl said, "It's like a raccoon!"

Another boy argued, "No, a squirrel! Look at its big tail."

Jomy was taller than both kids; he looked over their heads into the glass at the animal in its exhibit. It was exactly like it was pictured on the bus. It was definitely a unique animal. It stared out at the people with its wide golden eyes. All of the children were mesmerized by it. "It's so cute!"

Jomy stared at the tiny captive animal, and felt sad. _"I feel so sorry for it,"_ he thought, staring at the poor Weeping Mouse. _"It's locked in such a small cage."_ The voice explaining the animal continued to drone on.

For a brief second, Jomy locked eyes with the small animal.

 _I wanna get out._

Jomy was struck—it felt like a lightning bolt shot right into his heart. He stared into the animal's eyes, and could hear a tiny, high-pitched voice.

 _I wanna get outta here._

The animal was staring right at Jomy with an intense look in its eyes. It was _speaking_ to him.

A terrible pain struck Jomy's head. He grunted and held his head, trying to cope with the sudden pain. The colors of the world seemed to reverse and distort, and all sound was blocked out. All he could hear was the voice of the mouse. Every word was painful. Like every word was a physical object striking Jomy's head.

 _I wanna get out and go home._

Jomy forced his eyes open and stared at the discolored mouse. Everything else around him faded.

 _You can come home with me. This is not where we belong._

Jomy reached out with a trembling arm to touch the glass.

But when he touched the glass, it sent a painful shock through his arm and throughout his body. He cried out and pulled his hand away, holding it. All of the kids and parents gasped and looked at him in surprise. Nearby, a man was staring at Jomy in awe.

An employee began to scold Jomy. "You can't touch the case! There's a barrier around it. Didn't you hear the warning?"

"But this guy!" Jomy exclaimed.

The man nearby watched him closely. He had short, dirty blond hair, and wore glasses. He had on a salmon-colored turtleneck, and a green coat. He thought to himself, _"He was just reacting to the Weeping Mouse's telepathy. There's no mistake about it. He's a Mu."_

Jomy, who had fled from the agitated worker, was standing against a wall around a corner. His hand was still tingling from the shock; he held it against his chest, but breathed a sigh of relief to be away from the situation. "What a surprise… What was that just now? It was as if it spoke to me… That's not possible." Though Jomy had convinced himself he'd imagined it, he knew he could never imagine the creature's sad eyes. That was real.

Back in Universal Control, the new adults were still being closely monitored. "Tom Wayne adult examination complete."

The woman charged with monitoring Jomy also gave her report. "Jomy Marcus Shin approaching test room ninety-nine. Prepare for adult examination."

The 'test room ninety-nine' that Jomy was in fact approaching within the theme park was just another attraction. It was called the Underground Coaster, and was the source of some of Jomy's nostalgic memories of the park.

He thought to himself, _"The underground roller coaster… This brings back memories."_ "Okay!"

He ran in through the entrance and jumped into the car. He pulled on the provided helmet, and the guiding voice chimed in. _"We will now show you to a secret underground world. Ready for launch."_ The cart—modeled to look like a spaceship—closed up, and a hologram of an underground cavern activated around him. Jomy's 'spaceship' flew off into the cavern, and he steered it enthusiastically between stalactites with a yell.

The woman monitoring him reported, "Jomy Marcus Shin has entered test room ninety-nine. Commencing adult examination."

Jomy was speeding through the underground cavern when suddenly, a bright white light engulfed him. He was floating, naked and exposed, in an abyss of white light. The ship was gone, the cavern was gone. Everything was gone.

Then the white light faded, and he was in a room of purple lights. Floating in front of him was a massive teardrop-shaped form. It had a face on the front, with the number 5 beneath it. Its face was asymmetrical, and a very stark white. Its eyes were uneven triangles, and it was smiling. Smiling right at Jomy.

It spoke with a feminine voice, though her mouth didn't move. "Welcome, Jomy Marcus Shin. I'm one of the Terra's Number Computers…Terra's Number Five."

Jomy was suspended in the air, unmoving. He looked at the massive robot's unmoving face. "Terra's Number Five?"

It was still looking at him with an almost discomforting face. "We will now begin your adult examination. First phase, memory deletion."

"Memory deletion?" Jomy asked. The room they were floating in suddenly came to life—the entire wall of the cylindrical room was covered in screens. Images of his memories appeared. He looked around at them in shock.

"Begin deletion."

An awful pain struck Jomy in the head, and he grabbed his head and screamed. Some of the screens began to vanish, leaving only static. Jomy could feel the pain of his memories being erased from within his mind.

"Dad…Sam…Suena!" he cried as he tried to resist forgetting them.

The computer's voice rang through his pain. "It's all right. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Jomy stared in terror at a screen that was showing a memory of his mother. "Mom…!" His eyes began to lose their twinkle as he lost his memories…as he lost who he was.

Then suddenly, the static was drowned out. A familiar voice rang through his mind. A voice he'd been hearing in his dreams.

" _Don't get caught, Jomy!"_

The woman monitoring Jomy's test cried out, "Powerful psionic reaction detected! Type Blue!"

The men overlooking the observational terminals were shocked. "What?! Is he a Mu?!"

The man standing beside him was calmer. He pulled a speaker up to his mouth. "Closing Dreamworld. Request dispatch of security squad."

One of the women working at the terminals confirmed, "Dreamworld emergency closing."

Suddenly, Jomy wasn't alone. He felt someone holding him. And when he looked to the side, there was someone there.

The white-haired man from his dreams.

He was hovering beside Jomy, holding him close and staring hatefully at the machine. His blue cape was cascading around them both. The presence of this man sent an undeniable feeling of safety over Jomy despite their situation. It felt that, somehow, this strange man was protecting him.

The man spoke to him, this time in a regular voice. "Don't let go of your memories." The screens stopped going to static. "They're from the fourteen years of your life since you were born."

Jomy stared at the man's face. "Who are you?"

"Blue," the man replied. "Soldier Blue."

The screens disappeared and the room's lights turned red. Somehow, the machine's asymmetrical face distorted, and the face looked angry. "Be gone. You're a disturbance. Be gone!" she screamed. Bolts of violet lightning began to fire out from her forehead, aimed for the two men. But Soldier Blue pulled Jomy out of harm's way. Jomy wasn't sure if they were moving, or teleporting. The whole thing was a blur.

Soldier Blue focused his attention on Jomy. "If you have a strong will, you can save your memories. Don't get carried away with the flow." He continued to protect him from the machine's electrical attacks.

"Be gone!" the machine screeched.

"Don't get separated," Blue said, before pulling his cape around the two of them. They were pulled through a portal of some sorts, and out of harms way. When Jomy opened his eyes again, they were in a different part of the room. They were definitely teleporting.

They began to fly around the room. Blue left a trail of light between his teleportations, and he began to attack the machine.

"Be gone! Be gone!" she cried, unable to fight back. Blue struck her on the face. He pulled back, holding Jomy tightly to his body, and threw his hand up. A ball of light formed in his hand, and with a yell, he threw the energy into the machine's face. The machine tipped and let out a cry.

"Psionic level at highest point," his monitor reported. "There's no mistake about it. It's Soldier Blue!"

The man with the speaker continued on. "Jomy Marcus Shin is a Mu. He'll be disposed of. Linear pod maximum speed course out."

In the test room, things were calm. The machine seemed damaged, and made no more noise or further attempts to attack. Jomy was staring only at Blue's face. There was nothing else he could look at. "We're getting out, Jomy!"

Then Blue vanished. The test room vanished. Jomy was back in the underground rollercoaster. He let out a cry of surprise and quickly avoided the stalactites. He came out into an open cavern, and unable to react, he sped right toward the wall.

In his moment of panic, his body began to glow blue.

His coaster cart broke through the wall of the ride, breaking out and skidding across the cement. It landed upside down.

A group of soldiers at Universal Control were charging toward a ship, armed with guns. Their faces were concealed by dark helmets. "Security squad emergency dispatch. A Mu incident has just occurred at Fanatic Dreamworld! Confirm whether Jomy Marcus Shin is dead or alive."

At Dreamworld. Jomy was half-hanging out of his destroyed ship. His helmet was in pieces several feet away. He was beginning to regain consciousness, and could hear the intercom speaking out over the park. "Thank you for coming to Fanatic Dreamworld today. We are sorry for the inconvenience we are causing our valued customers, but the Security Management Bureau is conducting an unscheduled check."

Jomy awakened, and struggled to pull himself out of the wrecked spaceship. He was careful not to get cut on any of the glass littering the cement around him. He stood, and held his arm in pain. "What just happened?" He looked back at the hole in the wall he'd made, and then turned and looked out over the park. It was completely barren, deserted of all people. "Was that the adult examination?"

The overhead continued, "Anybody still within the grounds is asked to make their way outside. We look forward to seeing you again."

Jomy could somewhat remember what had just happened, and took a few steps forward. "Blue?"

He looked over the edge of the ridge and saw the last group of people making their way through the gate of the park.

Jomy continued to walk, trying to process what had just transpired. "He was from my dream."

He was suddenly distracted by a voice—a tiny voice.

 _Let's go home._

He looked. Just off to the side was the tiny exhibit for the Weeping Mouse. The tiny animal was staring at him through the glass again, speaking to him.

 _You too._

Jomy approached the glass of the exhibit. The mouse had its paws against the glass, and it was looking at him. "You can speak?" The mouse made some cooing noises at him. "But that's impossible."

He reached out to touch the glass, but suddenly it exploded. The Weeping Mouse leapt from its cage and jumped to Jomy. Jomy caught the mouse in his arms. It dug its claws into his coat and cooed at him, looking happily at his face. Jomy looked at the shattered glass in surprise. "What happened?"

Suddenly, a deep voice came from behind him. "Jomy Marcus Shin."

Jomy turned to face him. The group of soldiers were standing there, all aiming their guns at him. The soldier at the front had a smaller handgun. "You have been deemed inadequate, and thereby shall be punished."

Jomy took a step back fearfully. "Inadequate? Punished?" Panic overtook him. He held the mouse tightly, and faced the soldiers in desperation.

"What do you mean 'punished'?!"


	2. Section 2- Mu's Ship

SECTION 2- MU'S SHIP

 _Run to your left._

The voice spoke directly into Jomy's mind, but it wasn't a voice he'd heard before. Panic still held him in a chokehold, and he barely registered the words he'd heard. He knew for sure that it wasn't the voice of Blue. This was a different man reaching out to him.

But Jomy didn't have time to react.

"Fire!"

All of the soldiers open fired on the boy, and bullets ripped through the air toward him. He was completely helpless. The Weeping Mouse jumped to his shoulder and hid behind his head—he threw his arms up to try and protect himself, though he knew it would do nothing against bullets. But it was all he could do.

But before the bullets hit him, a shield was raised before him. It was a faint green, and comprised of several connected hexagonal shapes. The bullets embedded themselves into the shield; once all the bullets were stopped, the shield vanished. However, the bullets remained suspended in thin air, stopped by the invisible wall that had appeared in front of Jomy. Jomy shied away from it in awe, when he heard the voice again in his mind,

 _Hurry!_

He knew he had no other option. With the mouse clinging to his jacket, Jomy turned to his left and started running as fast as he could. The only thing to his left to run toward was a chain link fence on the edge of the cliffside. Still, Jomy ran toward it. He had to trust this voice if he wanted to survive. He could hear the soldiers shooting at him again; he never felt any pain or saw any bullets pass him. Maybe the shield was still protecting him.

 _Jump! I'll catch you below._

Placing blind faith in this voice, Jomy jumped, grabbed the top bar of the fence, and hoisted himself over the top and off the cliff. He screamed in terror as he fell down toward the trees far below. Suddenly, a ship phased into sight, and flew straight up. Jomy landed safely on its wing, and tried to focus on the man in the cockpit. The wind whipped his clothes and hair around, and he struggled to see him.

It was the man who'd been staring at him in awe after he tried to touch the mouse's exhibit the first time. The man with the dirty blond hair, turtleneck, and jacket. His glasses were gone, and he had an urgent expression on his face. He was looking right at Jomy, who was clinging to the wing of the ship in an effort not to fall off.

Jomy heard the voice again. The man's mouth didn't move, but he knew that it was definitely the man's voice.

 _Get in!_

This man was not Blue, but Jomy again had no choice. He could only place his blind trust in this strange man and climb inside as the windshield opened to allow him entry. He climbed in and hurried to strap himself to his seat beside the unknown pilot, who began to raise the ship upward toward the sky.

One soldier was trying to climb the fence, and the others were shooting at the ship directly through the links. They aimed at the ship's massive back propeller, but no significant damage was done. After taking a moment to align itself, the ship, under the control of the blond man, took off into the sky at full speed, leaving the soldiers far behind in the dust. They all ceased fire and watched the ship quickly flee.

The leader of the soldiers stepped forward, and pulled out his phone to request aerial assistance.

Far in the distance, the ship was flying effortlessly through the sky, with no resistance and a great speed. The city of Ataraxia was becoming a distant sight.

Jomy stared back at it over his shoulder. All kinds of emotions were swirling inside him. Confusion, panic, awe. Everything was happening so fast.

A movement against his chest recaptured his attention. He looked down to see that the Weeping Mouse was tucked comfortably in his jacket; its head was poking out, and it was staring up at him.

Finally, Jomy looked to his rescuer, who was flying the ship and keeping a close eye on the nearby area. "Why did you help me?" he demanded. "Who are you?"

Even though they were only a few feet apart within the ship, the man still didn't speak to him. He continued to use some kind of telepathy to speak directly into Jomy's mind.

 _I'm Leo. I've come to get you, on orders from Soldier Blue._

"Soldier Blue?" Jomy asked. That was the name of the white-haired man who'd protected him.

 _He's our leader. He's waiting for you on our mothership._

Finally, Jomy actually processed the man's unique way of communication. "You're speaking with your mouth closed? I hear your voice in my head."

The man replied, _I'm speaking to you with thought waves._

"Stop it! Speak to me normally!" Jomy demanded. The telepathy was making Jomy uncomfortable. He just wanted something about his rescuer to be normal. He wanted _anything_ to be normal.

But the man didn't abide. _I'm sorry. I do not have a voice._

Jomy stared for a moment. "You mean…" The man was a mute? Disabled? The approaching mountains caught Jomy's attention. He glared forward as a panic overtook him once again. "No way! We're not allowed to go outside Ataraxia!" Though Jomy had meant it as a statement, his panicked exclamation was more of a shocked reaction to what was happening.

 _You're being chased. At this point, laws are meaningless._ The man didn't change his course, or seem disturbed by where they were going. Obviously, for some reason, the law didn't scare or intimidate him the same way it did Jomy, who'd been raised in a strict utopian society.

"But…!" he tried to argue. He trailed off, distracted by the sight of the mountains they were passing.

 _You must see what lies outside of here with your own eyes,_ the man insisted. _Your pursuers are coming._

Jomy looked out the window. He only had a second to see the ships in pursuit before Leo threw the controls to the side to avoid incoming fire. It nearly hit them, but they managed to dodge in time. There were three black ships in pursuit of their small getaway ship. They were dark and had little detail aside from red lights and missiles on the underside of their wings. They were very fast, and catching up quickly. Jomy had only ever seen these ships on TV.

Leo did his best to avoid all the fire, and held up well enough. He flew the ship into a small tunnel. The opening at the other end was dangerously small. Jomy could see the stress on Leo's face—which only helped him to panic more. With one arm, he held the mouse tightly. With the other, he covered his eyes.

There was a loud scratching noise, and the ship shook briefly. They emerged from the cave with minor damage. However, the left wing was smoking from scratching the side of the exit. Behind them, the pursuit ships quickly changed course to return the other direction, avoiding the dangerously-small exit altogether.

Having emerged from the tunnel, they were engulfed in thick clouds. Visibility was near zero, and Jomy could still see the stress on Leo's face. They could hear the back propeller and the engine straining.

Leo pulled the ship up, and they emerged above the clouds. Jomy stared back through the glass. "No way!"

The mountains behind them were the only things in sight. In every other direction was nothing but clouds. They stretched on as far as the eye could see. It was a thick cloud cover that had no gaps or thin areas—Jomy had no clue what was beneath them.

Seeing Jomy's surprise at the world beyond Ataraxia's mountains, Leo took a moment to explain. _What you have been taught up to this day is not the truth. I want you to know that._

Jomy felt like he was losing his mind. He was falling deeper into panic when three shimmering lights in the distance caught his eye above the mountain range. The three pursuit ships were back in sight, and two missiles were coming right for them. Jomy knew Leo could never outmaneuver the missiles.

But he didn't have to. The hexagonal green shield from before protected the ship from both missiles, which exploded on impact a few hundred feet behind their ship. Seeing their first missiles destroyed did not deter their pursuers, however, who began to fire more missiles after resetting the tracking. Leo continued to try to evade, and the fading shield was able to save them from another missile. But the black ships were flying very close now. Jomy stared back, wide-eyed at the explosion of the missile. The green shield faded.

But then something happened.

A bright purple plasma beam fired straight up from somewhere beneath the clouds, hitting one of the three ships from directly below. The ship exploded into a massive cloud of fire and smoke, slowly rising toward the sky. Jomy _and_ Leo were shocked to see it happen. The remaining two ships left the third behind with no concern for their fallen comrade. They caught up to their ship, and were about to fire.

But two more purple plasma beams fired from beneath the clouds, and both black ships were hit and destroyed completely.

Leo was smiling, and Jomy breathed a huge sigh of relief. Their damaged ship continued to fly just above the clouds, when suddenly, something began to emerge from beneath them. It was a massive form of pure white and silver. It looked like the deck of a massive ship. A giant ring looked to circle the whole ship, though Jomy couldn't see the entire thing. The ship only rose above the clouds just far enough to reveal the deck, and a landing dock that sat on top. Leo flew the ship into the landing dock, and the massive ship descended back into the cover of the clouds.

The ships landing gear allowed them to glide effortlessly across the polished floor of the ship, where it came to a stop beside a crowd of people who were waiting for them. Leo opened the cockpit, and looked at Jomy.

 _This is the Mu's mothership._

Jomy looked around cautiously before releasing his safety belts. Jomy jumped out of the side of the ship, landing on the floor in front of the crowd of people who were waiting. They all began to speak with excitement, while Leo made his way around the front of the ship to join them.

Jomy immediately noticed something strange about the ambiance of the ship. It had a familiar feeling. He could hear a ringing throughout the massive chamber, though he wasn't sure if it was really there, or ringing in his head.

The man at the front of the crowd stepped forward. He wore an outfit striking similarity to the outfit Jomy remembered Blue wearing, though this man wore it in a brown and green color scheme. He almost resembled Jomy's father, which struck Jomy slightly as he stared at the man's face. His hair was blond and slicked back, and he had a deep tan.

"Welcome, Jomy Marcus Shin," he greeted. His face was cold and he looked to have a permanent frown. Many of the people behind him were older, and _all_ wearing similar clothes with minor variations. It appeared to be their uniform; all of the women matched, and all of the men matched. "I'm the Shangri La's captain, Harley. We offer a heartfelt welcome to a new friend chosen by Soldier Blue."

Though the welcome seemed real enough, the man's face showed no sign of it being "heartfelt."

Suddenly, voices began to fill Jomy's head from all around.

 _Welcome, Jomy!_

 _A new friend._

 _We've been expecting you._

Jomy began to lose his composure, and backed away from the group. However, they all ran forward to greet him. Jomy could hear voices saying his name in his mind, all trying to talk to him at once. Jomy couldn't focus on them. It felt like there were speakers in a ring around his head, all playing music at full volume. What music was coming from what speaker? Jomy felt sick.

One shorter young man with deep green hair and freckles stood at the front of a group of younger onlookers. He smiled at Jomy. "That was a narrow escape, Jomy. Were you hurt?"

Jomy was able to focus on this question, because it was real. It was spoken out loud. Hearing the young man speak to him normally grounded Jomy, allowing him to regain some of his composure before the captain continued to speak.

"They shot down the pursuing craft using their thought waves and carried you both here." Meaning, this group of people were responsible for the purple plasma beams that had saved them.

The young man with the green hair continued, "I heard about you from Soldier Blue. You're a pretty incredible Mu, I hear."

Immediately after his statement, the voices in Jomy's head spiked again. Jomy trembled, and finally snapped.

Grabbing his head, he yelled, "Stop it!"

The whole room fell silent. The voices stopped. Everyone was shocked.

"Don't go on rambling inside my head!" he cried. "What are you people, anyway? I'm not your friend! I'm not like you! I'm human! I'm not a Mu!"

One of the women behind the captain looked particularly stricken. They all looked horrified. Leo stood behind Jomy, watching him break down with a sad look on his face.

 _Jomy,_ he tried to reach out. Jomy didn't hear, and the room remained silent.

Distant within the ship, there was a clear, silent room with a soft bed at the top of a staircase, on a terrace. In the bed, tucked under the covers, was Soldier Blue. Sitting beside him, the woman with the long hair in the purple gown.

She suddenly felt something, and though her eyes didn't open, she was alerted. "Jomy," she declared.

A soft voice came from the unmoving figure in the bed beside her. _Physis._ She looked in his direction to acknowledge him. _He's come to us._

Soldier Blue lie in the bed, unconscious. She smiled down at him. "Yes, Soldier. Though he still seems to be hesitating."

Blue reassured her through his telepathy, _Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come around._

Physis reached out, and touched the face of the peacefully still young man. She caressed his cheek gently. "You must be tired," she said, even though he already appeared to be asleep. "Please rest for now."

She stood from the bedside to leave.

* * *

Jomy was sitting on the edge of a bed he'd been provided. An entire wall of the room was glass, revealing a view unlike any Jomy ever expected to see on a spaceship. There was a massive courtyard at the core of the ship, with grass and trees and a pathway paved through. It was like a park. Jomy could see children playing among the trees, and older people watching over them from a distance, sitting in the grass.

But the ambiance of the ship—even in this tiny room—was still discomforting. Something still felt wrong.

" _Why did this happen to me?"_ Jomy wondered to himself, still struggling to believe everything that had happened in the last day. He looked down at his hand, staring.

The door to his room suddenly opened, and Leo stepped inside. He wore the men's uniform that matched all the others that Jomy had seen. The Weeping Mouse was perched on his shoulder. He was smiling warmly. Jomy knew that Leo had to be a kind and compassionate person; that was the kind of energy he could feel around him.

 _Jomy, did you sleep well?_

Jomy tried not to flinch at the telepathy. However, he handled Leo much better than he did the entire crowd from the day before. Leo's voice was quiet, soft—it didn't hurt Jomy's mind or feel intrusive.

Though Jomy _knew_ that Leo was a kind and caring person, he still managed to frown at him. He was particularly mad at his rescuer, though he had a lot of anger building up and had nowhere to direct it. He looked away from Leo angrily.

Luckily, Leo seemed understanding, and wasn't bothered by Jomy's cold treatment. Still smiling, he looked at the mouse, which promptly jumped from Leo's shoulder down to Jomy's bed. The mouse climbed onto Jomy, crying out happily.

"You…!" Jomy exclaimed, trying to grab at the animal. He heard Leo chuckle.

 _It's been longing for you and keeps crying._

The mouse was tickling Jomy, who couldn't help but laugh. His mood immediately improved as he began to play with the mouse. "That tickles!"

Later on, Jomy was following Leo down a long blue hallway, where several people were lingering. He tried to avoid eye contact with anyone, hoping no one would reach out to him with telepathy. He focused on following Leo, and scratching the mouse that was still perched on his shoulder. Leo led him to a door, which slid open upon their arrival, which revealed a circular room with a maroon color scheme. There were two rows of seats, with six in each row. Some were filled, some were empty. Standing at the far end of the room before the seats was an old man in a gray cloak, with a darker gray cape not unlike the one Jomy had seen Blue wearing. But something about his wasn't quite as mesmerizing.

He was standing beside an egg-shaped contraption with numbers on it. It looked like it was meant to spin. Was this a classroom?"

The old man noticed that Jomy and Leo had entered. "I've been waiting for you, Jomy. Please, have a seat."

The ambiance of this room was almost physically uncomfortable. Jomy could hear sounds in his mind that sounded like distorted voices. It made his skin crawl, and he couldn't find the source of it no matter where he looked.

Jomy took the nearest empty seat, and Leo stood behind him.

"Now, how much do you know about Mu?" the old man inquired.

Jomy shook his head. "Not a thing. Just that they're people with the ability to use strange powers humans don't have. That's about it."

The old man gave a grunt and closed his eyes. He folded his hands behind his back beneath his cape. "Yes. We may indeed live an unfamiliar existence as viewed by humans. Mu have the ability to speak and move objects through thoughts. It's an ability humans do not have." He paused for a moment, before opening his eyes to look at Jomy. "But we Mu are born from humans."

The room darkened, and a hologram screen slid into place beside the old man. It displayed a dark sky with a blood red moon.

"A few hundred years ago…by the time humans realized the mistakes they had made, Earth was ruined to a point where it could not be recovered." The screen changed to show a skeleton of an animal, partially buried in sand. "Pollution continued to progress, and greenery would no longer grow." The screen showed water, which was dark and void of life. "Fish disappeared from the oceans, which were once the source of life."

The screen showed some kind of gathering of men and women, all gazing at their own screens with images of Earth. "Humanity finally concluded that they were suffocating Earth."

The screen showed ships quickly departing from Earth, heading into space. They went out into the depths of the never-ending universe. "Recommendations were made to emigrate to other planets. The came population control. Regulations on childbirth. The prohibition of natural childbirth, followed by an educational system where adoptive parents would raise children under the watchful eye of Universal Control." The screen showed a man and woman holding a newborn baby. Jomy watched the screen intently, being reminded of his own parents.

"To ensure that this perfectly controlled society is not disturbed, the educated children go through an adult examination to determine whether they are adequate or inadequate."

Jomy gasped, remembering the results of his own test. _Inadequate._

The man stepped in front of the screen. His eyes were closed, and he was in deep thought. "Why are Mu born? I have no idea…but we do know that our friends continue to be born." The lights returned to the dark room.

Jomy leaned forward in his seat slightly. "What happens if they're found?"

The old man replied bluntly, "They are secretly eliminated."

Jomy frowned.

"Nevertheless, Mu who have successfully escaped the grasp of the humans call out to each other naturally, and gather together." He took a few steps toward Jomy, going to standing directly in front of his desk. "Have you noticed? Many of us Mu are physically weak. Like this, for example."

He held up his left hand, revealing that it was made completely from metal. A prosthetic. He fumbled with it for a second, then pulled it off and out of his sleeve. He set it down on Jomy's desk. Jomy stared at it for a long moment before the old man picked it back up and began to place it back where it belonged.

With a light gasp, Jomy turned around in his seat to look back at Leo, who was just standing there with his same, sweet smile. The old man had no arm. Leo had no voice.

"Maybe God gave us special abilities to make up for it," the old man suggested.

Jomy couldn't help but feel sad.

After the session with the old man in the classroom, Leo was leading Jomy somewhere new. They were walking down a long hallway, with no windows or decorations. It was lit only with blue lights hanging from the ceiling.

It wasn't the same, but it looked exactly like the hallway from Jomy's dream. He knew the hallway he'd been in was on the ship somewhere.

Leo was explaining, _This ship was taken from the humans by the elders of the first generation, and has been renovated to this state._

"Why haven't they found such a big ship?" Jomy asked curiously.

 _The stealth device we use cannot be detected by conventional radar._

"Stealth device?"

 _Yes._

Leo led him to a massive door that opened for them, allowing a bright light to pour through. Jomy gasped in awe and stepped forward. They were on a terrace overlooking the entirety of the courtyard. Situated in the very center was an intricate cylindrical structure—it looked like a building, or a tower. Jomy hadn't been able to see it from the room he'd slept in. Or perhaps he'd just been too distracted to notice…it looked very hard to miss.

 _This is the ship's bridge. Navigation, reconnaissance, defense, attack…the core of every chain of command. Thought waves from telepathy unification devices installed in each block are collected here to create one powerful thought wave. The feelings of not wanting to be found and wanting to turn back the attacks of the enemy are what protects this ship._

At the top of the bridge, the controls were in plain sight. There were people stationed there. Jomy could see them, and they could see him.

And Jomy could barely hear their discontented thoughts… _Is he still aboard this ship?_

The woman beside the man replied back, _Not one thing about that child is Mu-like._

The man thought back, _Soldier did say he has potential. This time around, I can only believe that he made a mistake._

Leo, too, could hear their insulting conversation, and took a few steps toward Jomy to reach out to him. But Jomy, who had been listening just fine on his own, turned around and walked away with a sigh, bothered by their gossip. Leo watched him go back toward the door where they had come from.

* * *

Deep in the ship where Blue slept, the elders of the ship had gathered around the bed where Blue was still in his deep sleep. It had become tradition to hold their important gatherings around his bed, as he was immobile while asleep.

One of the men—tall and bald, with a long face and mustache—said aloud, "Really, he thinks of us as monsters. That's exactly how normal humans react."

The old man from the classroom spoke up in his defense, "He's been under the control of Universal until now. It's not surprising that he'd have no idea about Mu. He can gradually gain an understanding from his point on."

A dark-skinned woman with a tattooed face beside him also spoke, "Perhaps he has no potential as a Mu."

Captain Harley said, "But, he does have strong thought waves. They're strong enough to reach every corner of this ship."

His statement caused everyone to fall silent. They knew he was right.

A soft voice stirred from within the sleeping Soldier. _He is a Mu._

"Soldier Blue!" the captain exclaimed, surprised that Soldier Blue was at last speaking to them. He had gained back some amount of consciousness to reach out to them.

 _Please watch over him a little longer._

The voice was desperate, almost begging. All of the elders stared at their Soldier in silence. They all knew that they could never deny him _anything_ he asked for.

Elsewhere on the ship, Jomy was walking the hallways alone. Everyone he passed by stared at him—some pitifully, some hatefully. It was the most uncomfortable Jomy had ever felt. He kept his eyes down, staring at the floor as he walked. But no matter how hard he tried to ignore the people around him, their thoughts were a never-ending rumble in the background. They weren't so painful to hear when they weren't directed at him, yet still the hum of their thoughts was enough to make Jomy uneasy.

" _I can hear their thoughts,"_ he thought to himself, still disturbed by the fact. _"They don't translate into words…but I'm sensing hatred toward humans."_

He was walking directly toward a group of four young men, who looked visibly uncomfortable at his approach. The four of them split to make way for Jomy to pass, stopping their conversation completely.

Jomy ignored them. He continued to think to himself, _"Which is correct? What I had believed until now, or what they're telling me? …What am I, really? …Dad. Mom. I wanna see you."_ His eyes fell with sadness.

Suddenly, all noise vanished, for only a second. Jomy, staring ahead, saw no people anymore. For just that brief second, the hallway was calm and silent.

At the end of the hall stood Soldier Blue, glowing with a blue aura and partially see-through, like a ghost. There was no trace of wind in the hall, but his long cape was flowing beautifully. He glanced over his shoulder at Jomy, staring at him for a long moment.

Then the image vanished. Sound returned. The people were back.

Jomy gasped.

The hallway had changed somehow. There was no longer a hum of people's thoughts filling his head. It was the distant ringing that he'd heard when he'd first boarded the ship. It run through the hall in his mind, but it wasn't a painful sound.

Jomy ran to where the image had been standing, and looked around frantically. He turned and ran down the next hallway, glancing down every new hallway he passed.

He skidded to a stop when he passed a dark hallway. The lights were dimmed, and the other end of the hallway was engulfed in darkness. Standing in the hallway, facing away, was the image of Blue. Jomy ran down the hallway toward the image as fast as he could.

"Wait!" he called. "Who are you?!"

There was another large door at the end. The image was standing in front of it. As Jomy approached, the image vanished again, and the door slid open. A blinding light poured into the hallway, and Jomy covered his eyes. It was a door that led to the courtyard.

There were children playing with a ball on the path in front of Jomy. The girls wore cute pink dresses, and the boys wore blue suits. Their outfits looked like less-detailed, more colorful versions of the uniforms the adults wore.

Their ball escaped them, and rolled right up to Jomy's feet. The kids were about to run and get it, when they noticed Jomy standing there. They all fell silent, and stood there staring at him as he reached down and picked up the ball.

One tiny blonde girl smiled brightly at him. "Jomy? You must be Jomy!"

This energy was completely different from what he'd been feeling everywhere else. These children didn't fear or hate him. They were happy.

" _Mu children,"_ he thought to himself.

The entire group of children ran up to him, looking up at him in awe.

One little boy asked, "Why are you so sad?"

Before a surprised Jomy could answer, the tiniest girl stepped forward. She had cropped brown hair not unlike his own hair. She reached out and took Jomy's hand in both of hers. "Mom? Your mind is filled with that thought."

A shocked Jomy tore his hand from hers, but she wasn't offended. She looked up at him with a smile. "What is a mom?"

Jomy stared at her in confusion. She didn't know what a mother was? The other kids all came closer, waiting for his answer. He looked at all of them. Did none of them know?

Feeding off the positive energy of the children, Jomy smiled and knelt down before them. "My mom can be scary sometimes when she gets mad…but she's kind and is a very good cook."

The girl with the brown hair was the most pleased with his story. "Is that so?" She reached out and took his hand again, and held it close. She closed her eyes, and looked very happy. She must be able to see into peoples' minds by holding their hands. "So this is Jomy's mom. You're right. She's really warm."

All the other children shoved their way forward. "I wanna see!" they cried.

Jomy laughed. "Wait, wait!"

Suddenly, and angry voice came from further down the path. "Stop it! Don't be deceived by that human!"

The children all backed away from Jomy. Standing a few dozen feet away was the green-haired young man from when Jomy had arrived. His arms were folded, and he had three others behind him. Jomy could feel a sincere hatred emanating from him. "Soldier may have chosen you, but a human is a human. You're trying to pose as a Mu, but I'm not buying it!"

Jomy stood to face them. "What do you mean? I'm not doing that! I am human!"

The four men approached him, led by the green-haired one. "Well then get lost," he said threateningly.

Jomy was overcome with rage. He reached out and shoved him backwards. "Shut up! I'm not here because I wanna be here!" The man's friends caught him as he stumbled back.

"Okay, then I'll force you outta here!" he yelled, charging forward. They grabbed each other by the shoulders and began pushing each other around, struggling to gain the upper hand.

"Kim, get him!" his friends called.

"Kick him outta here!"

Jomy lost his grip, and Kim slapped him across the face. Jomy stumbled over, landing on the ground. A drop of blood trickled down his chin. He jumped back to his feet and punched Kim in the stomach. While Kim was stunned, Jomy reached back, and punched him square in the face. Kim flew backward, and two of his friends hurried to help him sit up. The kids were screaming.

Kim's friends stared at him with such hate and resent that Jomy could feel the emotions pressing on him like a wall. They moved to gang up on him.

"What are you doing?!" came an older, deeper voice. They all looked.

Captain Harley and the old teacher were approaching. Captain Harley was not pleased with what he saw. "What in the world's happening here?"

Jomy didn't answer, he just looked away. The old teacher went to the fallen Kim and helped him stand. "Come with me, I'll treat those wounds." He and one of Kim's friends helped Kim walk away from the others and out of sight. His other two friends followed them closely. Captain Harley was left with Jomy, with the kids not far—many of them were crying from the violent encounter.

In the infirmary, a medic was bandaging Jomy's arm while a disappointed, angry Harley stood over him. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" he demanded.

"He's the one who picked a fight with me," Jomy insisted.

"That may be true," Harley agreed. "But he didn't use his thought waves while he fought even though he knew you had an advantage being physically healthier."

Nearby, Kim was in a pod being watched over by a nurse. His entire upper half was covered in bandages.

Harley continued to scold Jomy, "We're not monsters willing to throw around our dangerous powers."

Jomy was silent for a moment. He knew that being so much stronger and healthier than Kim, his single punch to the stomach must have done more damage than he thought. But his emotions were still building up.

He looked up at the captain. "But you guys stare at me and spread rumors about me with thought waves that I can't hear. If I'm getting in your way, you shouldn't have saved me!" he exclaimed.

Harley looked offended by his outburst. "What?! If we had left you there, you would've been killed by the humans!"

"But that was all because you guys interfered with my adult examination!"

Harley stared down at Jomy in silence. Jomy looked down at the ground, defeated. He felt utterly lost.

Harley must have been able to sense Jomy's distress. He leaned down and placed both hands on his shoulders. He spoke with a softer, more understanding voice. "Jomy. Please make the effort to understand us."

Jomy shoved him away and took off running.

Jomy had found his way onto a rail car traversing through the massive Shangri La ship. He was the only one riding it, aside from the Weeping Mouse that was jumping around him. Jomy was lost in deep thought, staring intensely into space. He listened to the passing of the pillars that whished by as the car sped along.

He eventually disembarked from the car and started to wander. The ship was mostly empty, and he didn't encounter anyone on his walk. He could still hear the light hum of people's thoughts in the background, though it was especially distant and barely bothering him. He noticed after a while that the mouse seemed to be leading him somewhere. He started to follow it absentmindedly, walking along behind it still lost in thought. The floor was a gorgeous marble—it was a hue of light purple.

After a while of following the mouse, suddenly the hum ceased. It was replaced by the low ringing.

Jomy looked up, and found himself looking at a doorway covered by a sheer, purple chiffon portiere.

This was it.

The mouse jumped back onto his shoulder as he pushed one of the drapes to the side, stepping into the room from his dreams. It was slightly different. It was brighter, though it still looked to extend into an abyss. There were the two staircases leading to terraces, and the massive planet sculpture in the center of the room. Jomy stepped out into the room and began to walk inside, looking around. He'd seen this room several times in his dreams, but now he was there in the flesh.

And it felt very strange.

The table was not at the base of the right staircase as it was in his dream. However, since the table _had_ been there every time he'd seen it, he was drawn to the right staircase. He began to ascend it, anxious to finally see what was at the top.

"I saw this room in my dream," he said aloud, looking around.

There she was. At the top of the staircase, seated at her table. The beautiful woman with the hair so long it touched the floor, in the purple gown. Her tarot cards were all placed face down on the tabletop. Jomy reached the top of the staircase, and the mouse jumped from his shoulder to rush toward the woman.

He stared at her and gulped. There was an overwhelming presence in the room.

Her eyes were still closed.

"Welcome, Jomy," she greeted, her voice like bells. "I've been waiting for you."

"Me? Who are you?" he asked. The mouse jumped up onto her table.

"I'm Physis, a fortuneteller who sees the future. You were in my predictions." She reached out and turned the middle tarot card to reveal the Hanged Man. "And I can tell what's bothering you deep in your heard right now."

"You can read my heart?" he exclaimed.

"Your thoughts are too strong." She stood from her chair and began to walk toward the railing of the terrace. "Fifty years ago, I was saved by Soldier…in much the same way you were, and came here."

" _Fifty_ years ago?" Jomy asked. The woman didn't look a day over twenty.

"Mu live long lives, and are able to maintain a young body," she explained. She turned to face Jomy. "Soldier Blue guided you here, didn't he?"

A slight anger struck Jomy's heart. "He's the one who gave the orders to bring me here, right? So why doesn't he show himself to me?!"

"Soldier is very tired," Physis explained sadly. "He used up too much of his powers in order to save you."

Memories of Blue appearing within the computer room came rushing back to Jomy.

 _Don't let go of your memories. They're from the fourteen years of your life since you were born._

Blue was in a coma.

Physis stepped closer to Jomy. "Please, Jomy. I ask that you make his wish come true. It's something that only you can do." Her voice was desperate, just like Blue's had been in Jomy's dreams.

But it only made Jomy angrier. "What's this all about? Why should I care?! It has nothing to do with me!"

He turned and ran.

"Jomy!" Physis called. But Jomy was down the staircase and running toward the doorway. "Jomy…"

Jomy was running through the hallway desperately. "Come show yourself! Answer when I call out to you!" he yelled. "Soldier Blue!"

 _Jomy._

Jomy gasped and stopped running, standing in the center of the hallway from his dreams in silence. The reply had been stern, yet soft at the same time. A weak voice, yet still commanding power. Jomy could feel his presence again—the same that he'd felt from the moment he woke up on his Day of Awakening, to being rescued, to first arriving on the ship. He could feel Blue near him somehow.

 _For the first time, you're reading my mind with your own will. Can you tell?_

"Where are you?" Jomy asked. He turned to run down a hallway.

Suddenly, he was teleported to a very dark room. There was a floor that seemed to be suspended in the abyss of the room—it was even emptier than the room Physis had been in. The only source of light was in the distance, around a curved walkway. Jomy focused on it, and realized it was a bed beneath a canopy, surrounded by soft blue lights.

Feeling determined, Jomy began to walk toward the bed, where he saw a figure stirring.

Soldier Blue, who'd been weak and unconscious for days, was sitting upright. As Jomy approached, he turned to sit on the edge of his bed. He watched Jomy approach.

"So, you're…" Jomy trailed off.

Blue struggled to stand from his bed, visibly weak. He took a few slow steps toward Jomy. When he spoke, his voice was softer than Jomy had heard from his dreams. "It's the first time we meet in this manner, Jomy."

"Why me?" Jomy demanded angrily. "Why did you show me that dream? I am _not_ a Mu!"

Blue stood in silence, waiting patiently for Jomy to release all of his anger.

"Even during the adult examination, if you hadn't gotten in the way, I might've passed! And then…! I didn't wanna come to a place like this."

Finally, Blue spoke. "Then what do you want to do?"

"Take me back to Ataraxia! Back to my home!" He stared Blue right in the eyes, daring Blue to deny him his wish. He was ready to argue for his life.

"Okay."

Jomy was stunned.

"You can go. Leo." Suddenly, Leo appeared from the shadows beyond Blue's bed. "…Take Jomy back."

 _Okay._ Leo approached Jomy, and took his arm. _Let's go, Jomy…_

Jomy turned to follow Leo, but hesitated. He looked back at Blue.

The mood that befell the room came upon Jomy like a thick blanket. He looked right at Blue's face, and saw nothing but sadness and heartbreak. The emotions in the room were so powerful, Jomy could feel them pushing against his chest like a physical force. These feelings reminded Jomy of what he would feel at the end of his dreams, when Blue would be in pain and crying out for someone.

Jomy hadn't yet felt that…but now it was there.

Jomy forced himself to turn away from Blue and follow Leo out. This was _not_ his problem.

" _I am not a Mu,"_ he promised himself.

He glanced back at Blue. He was standing beside his bed, looking ready to collapse from weakness at any time. The sadness was still flowing off of him. Jomy turned away again, denying Blue's presence. Denying his emotions, his energy. He turned his back and followed Leo away. Yet with every step, there was an undeniable guilt that he couldn't shake off.

" _How could this happen?"_


	3. Section 3- Ataraxia

SECTION 3- ATARAXIA

The sky was clear above the sea of clouds, with the twinkling stars shining brightly. The air was chilled and refreshing. The clouds stretched on in every direction for miles—as far as the eye could see. It was as if the entire world was covered with them. Who knew what was beneath them? Perhaps just a barren wasteland. Maybe the only place in the world was the city of Ataraxia, surrounded by a ring of mountains that protected the city from being engulfed by the thick clouds, like a forest spreading across a landscape.

The Shangri La slowly ascended, revealing its deck and landing dock. A tiny ship emerged, flying out of the massive mothership and taking off into the open sky.

Inside was Jomy, and Leo. Leo had removed his Mu uniform, and was in his previous disguise of a turtleneck, jacket, and glasses. Behind them, the Shangri La sank back into the clouds and out of sight, as though it was never there.

Leo looked to Jomy, who sat in silence with his hands folded in his lap. He was staring down, avoid eye contact.

A heavy guilt still hung above him. He couldn't shake it off no matter what he told himself. All he could think about was the look on Soldier Blue's face as he'd turned his back and rejected him.

Leo didn't say anything. He pulled the ships controls back and the small ship fly high above the clouds, giving an even wider range of view. Still, all Jomy could see was the blanket of clouds covering the planet. He fidgeted, twiddling his thumbs uncomfortably. There was a tension in the cockpit. Not an angry tension—he could definitely tell that Leo wasn't angry with him. It felt more like fear.

The ship's speed increased and they continued to travel in silence. The clouds flew by until finally, a mountain range came into sight. They drew closer and closer.

"Ataraxia," Jomy said quietly, mostly to himself. "The place where I was raised."

The ship continued on in silence, approaching the city. And as they drew closer, Jomy could feel Leo's nervousness growing stronger.

* * *

A gentle song was being played, echoing throughout Physis' room. The black man from Jomy's dreams sat at the base of the right staircase, clad in his same green robe and holding his golden lyre. His eyes were closed, and he was lost in his music.

At the top of the staircase on the terrace, Physis sat at her table with her tarot cards, listening to the man's beautiful music. She pulled a card from the top of her stack and kept it face down as she placed it on the tabletop, among several others which had already been placed. On the floor beside the table, the Weeping Mouse slept comfortably on a tiny pillow. When Physis was nearly finished with cards, she was suddenly distracted. She sat in silence, her head raised. She could feel something distant.

She thought to herself, _"He's quite a distance from us…yet I can still read his feelings. His feelings of anxiety."_

The man noticed Physis was distracted, and looked back at her over his shoulder. He stopped his music, and stood from his seat, turning to face her. He stared up at her worriedly, able to see that she herself looked worried. "Miss Physis…!"

Back in the courtyard, the old teacher and his assistant were watching over some children who were playing in the grass. A young woman stood beside him holding some documents, smiling at the children she so admired.

They both looked when the young girl with brown hair—the one who had looked into Jomy's mind to see his mother—ran up to them.

"Teacher!" she said, smiling brightly. "Where has Jomy gone?"

"Carina!" he said, looking down at her.

"Jomy is not aboard the ship," she declared. "I wanted to hear more about his mom." The teacher knelt down, feeling sad that he would have to break the news to the little angel of a girl. He recalled what had happened earlier that day…

Earlier, in the room where Soldier Blue slept, the elders had gathered around his bed once again to commune with him. Captain Harley was speaking.

"Soldier. It's dangerous to return Jomy to Ataraxia."

The bald man—even more unhappy now that Jomy was gone than when he arrived—spoke up as well. "Imagine if he talks to the humans about us."

Blue, who had fallen back into slumber but was still managing to hold some level of consciousness after his encounter with Jomy, spoke to all of them through telepathy. _There's no need to worry about that. He is our friend._

A long-haired woman with purple teardrop earrings said, "But he strongly denies the fact that he's a Mu."

Soldier Blue replied, _Jomy just doesn't realize who he really is yet. That's precisely why I sent him back to Ataraxia._

Though it had distressed Blue greatly to let him go…Blue knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

"But…" Harley tried to argue, but trailed off.

 _He will learn the truth there. And he has the strength to accept the truth._

There was a moment of silence. The elders believed for a moment that Blue had finally drifted away.

 _I will follow Jomy's consciousness._

"But that would be a significant burden on you," Harley said worriedly, knowing already how weak Soldier Blue had grown. He was too weak to even open his eyes and look at them. They could only imagine how dangerous it would be to exert himself at a time like this.

 _I don't have the time._

His statement dropped a heavy weight on the hearts of all the elders. They all fell silent, averting their gazes or closing their eyes. They knew he was right. Even if all Blue did was rest, there really was no telling how long he would last in the state he was in.

 _I've been keeping an eye on him all along. He will surely fulfill the dreams I could not fulfill. That's what I believe, Harley._

Though in recent times, Soldier had sometimes spoken with desperation, this time, there was hope.

"Soldier," Harley said, staring intently at him.

With this conversation in mind, the teacher looked at Carina, and sighed. He stood up without answering her, and looked up. Carina tried to follow his gaze, but when the teacher continued to ignore her question, she gave up and ran back toward her friends.

* * *

Nighttime had befallen Ataraxia. The sky was just as clear above Ataraxia as it had been above the clouds beyond the mountains. A light breeze was rustling the trees. The city was aglow with orange lights.

The small Mu ship flew above the city surrounding the massive lake in the center.

Leo lowered the ship gradually above the lake, skidding to a stop on the lake's calm surface. The ship sailed for a moment, headed to hide beneath the support beams of a facility build in the lake. Leo opened the cockpit, and the two climbed out. The underside of the facility was full of staircases and stacked stories. Leo and Jomy both turned back to look at the ship for a moment. After a few moments, it sank down into the water—going further and further until it was no longer visible. Once it was concealed, Leo turned to Jomy.

 _Let's go._

He placed a hand on Jomy's back and walked with him toward one of the staircases.

Going up and following the path, they walked beneath the bridge connecting the lake facility to the city itself, and they eventually found their way into a network of tunnels beneath the city. Once again, Jomy was placing his trust in Leo, who was leading the way. Not long after entering, Leo stopped and knelt beside the wall of the tunnel. He raised his hand and closed his eyes. A sequence of colored lines appeared as Leo's hand began to glow. At first, the lines were red. Then, they turned yellow. Finally, they became blue.

Leo pulled his hand away and looked to Jomy. _With that, no record of us will remain on the surveillance systems in this area._

Jomy wasn't ecstatic to see Leo's work in action. "Leo, are you guys always intruding like that?"

But Leo continued to smile at him. _Yes. We need to find children who could be Mu before Universal does, and take them to our ship to protect them._

"Like you did with me," Jomy snapped. He turned away from Leo, whose smile finally faded.

 _We cannot abandon our friends. We want to save as many friends as possible._

"I'm not the same as you Mu!" Jomy yelled. His voice echoed through the tunnels. He charged forward and grabbed Leo's jacket. "If only you didn't do anything weird, right about now… I would've passed my adult examination, and proceeded into adult society!"

Leo stared at Jomy sadly, until Jomy finally released him and backed off. He turned away from him, trembling. He could still feel the emotions emanating from Leo, and he hated it. Leo felt bad for him.

They had continued their way through the tunnels, going further beneath the city. Leo continued to lead Jomy in silence; he knew exactly where they were, and where they were going. Jomy knew Leo likely had made his way through the tunnels many times before, spying on children and watching for Mu.

After they had been walking for a while, passing ladders and pathways, Leo finally stopped them at once of the ladders that lead to grate on the street. They stood for a moment; they could hear the rumble of a truck passing above them, cleaning the street. Once it had passed, Leo climbed the ladder and pushed the grate open. He climbed out, and reached back in to help Jomy out. Jomy looked around, and realized that they had come out of a grate right in front of his house.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Jomy left Leo behind and ran up to his front door.

 _Jomy!_ Leo called out behind him. Jomy ignored him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keycard, looking up at his house and smiling. He was finally home. He placed the keycard against the screen, and threw the door open. He ran inside.

"I'm home!"

Leo followed him, scanning the abandoned street for a moment before closing the front door.

Jomy turned on the lights as he passed. "Mom!" No reply. The house was still, the air slightly colder than it normally was. Jomy's excitement was fading into anxiety. "Dad!"

He looked around, and was horrified.

The house was empty. The shelves were barren, walls void of picture frames. Things were pristinely cleaned, and the room smelled of bleach. It had been cleaned very thoroughly, and recently.

Jomy turned and ran to his parents' bedroom. He threw the door open and looked inside, but found nothing. The room was completely empty: no bed, no lights. The window was covered with a metal blind.

"Why aren't you here?" he asked himself. With a gasp, he turned from the bedroom and ran toward the stairs. He made his way up, and opened the door to his room. It was exactly the same. It was empty and dark. Jomy stepped inside, his heart breaking and all happiness gone. "Why?" He went to his closet and opened it, but inside there was only empty hangers. All his clothes were gone. "My room. There's nothing here!" he cried. He opened the cabinet under the window. "What's going on?!"

Leo's quiet voice came into his mind. _A child who has finished his adult examination will never return to his home._

Jomy gasped and turned around. Leo was standing in the doorway.

 _Your parents also believed that you would never come back here._

Unsure how to deal with the situation and his emotions, Jomy had made his way back downstairs to sit on the couch. He was slumped over, his hands folded in his lap. Leo stood behind him.

 _Jomy. The day will break soon. Let's return to the ship,_ he insisted.

Jomy stood up and turned to face Leo angrily. "It's all your fault!" He ran through the doorway into another room, leaving Leo behind once again.

* * *

A security camera was locked on to a group of students walking along on their way to school. The morning was new, the sun still soft. The morning chill was hanging in the air and the grass was still wet.

Walking in the middle of the students was a blond boy in a brown and red jacket, painfully out of place among the students who all wore their uniform. He was walking with a sad look on his face.

A deep voice rang out over the observation terminals before him. "We've located a person believed to be serial number AD06223, Jomy Marcus Shin."

Jomy reached the gate of his school, and stood in the center of the sidewalk. Students passed him—some looked at him strangely, but no one seemed too interested in him.

Jomy's friends were approaching. Sam and Suena, both wearing their uniforms and looking painfully normal.

Sam saw Jomy standing in the distance. "Jomy!"

Suena's face brightened, and a wide smile spread across her face. "You're right. It's Jomy!"

Sam took off running toward their friend, and Suena followed. "Jomy!" he called. Jomy looked at them in surprise. "I thought you went to the station to take the adult examination."

"Sam. Suena," he said. A sadness struck his heart, and he frowned.

"Jomy?" Suena asked. She and Sam looked at each other, confused.

"I'm…" Jomy started.

But he was cut off by Leo's voice calling out in his mind. _Jomy. Please come back._

Jomy turned to see what had alarmed Leo, who was hiding nearby. He saw the counselor walking toward them. Jomy knew it wasn't safe to be caught by her, so he turned and ran, leaving his friends behind.

"Jomy!" Suena called.

"Hey. What's the matter?" Sam yelled after him. But Jomy didn't look back. "What's gotten into him?"

The counselor walked up behind them, and spoke with a firm voice. "Sam. Suena. What are you doing? Class is about to begin."

"Ah, Jomy was just— "

Suena elbowed Sam in the rib, urging him to keep quiet. Sam stared at her.

But he continued. "Jomy was just here. He hasn't gone to the station yet. Did something happen?" He looked back over his shoulder in the direction Jomy had run.

The counselor gasped, but quickly composed herself. "Yes, due to a certain situation, his visit to the station was delayed. But I'm sure he will be moving right away. And I suggest you two study hard until that day comes for you."

"Yes. I'll try and catch up to him soon," Sam said enthusiastically.

"All right, then. It's time to begin class."

They both nodded and left the counselor, headed toward the school building. Suena wondered aloud as they walked, "I wonder if he's all right."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sam asked, folding his hands behind his head. He looked at Suena, who looked worried.

"About Jomy…"

Back at the gate to the school, the counselor was on her phone. "I found Jomy Marcus Shin."

* * *

Jomy was running across a field of grass just beyond the school, breathing heavily. Leo was in the distance on a bike, waiting. He looked more stressed than Jomy had ever seen him. Without a word, Jomy jumped on to the back of the bike, and Leo pushed off. _Jomy, hang on tight._

They sailed down the hill, and Jomy clung to Leo's waist. Leo pedaled quickly, and they eventually found their way to a road. Once again, as usual, Leo knew exactly where he was going. He knew Ataraxia better than Jomy did.

Jomy watched the trees they were passing, but his mind was distracted with thoughts of his mother.

 _Do you wanna meet your mom that badly?_

"Stop peeking into my mind!" Jomy yelled.

 _The voice of your mind is so strong, I heart it without even trying to read it._

To Jomy, that wasn't an acceptable excuse. "Still, stop listening!"

 _To be honest, I envy you. The memory of your mother within you is always warm. I can feel that through you._

Some of Jomy's anger subsided, and he took a breath.

 _You are fortunate to at least have a memory._

"Everyone's got memories of their mother," Jomy said, finding it hard to believe that Leo had no recollection of his own.

But Leo confirmed, _I do not have any._ He was silent for a long moment, and Jomy could feel that he was growing sad. _I have never been able to use my voice. Perhaps for that reason, I awakened to my powers as a Mu at a young age. I guess I was vaguely aware of my abilities._ Leo could recall seeing silhouettes of his parents sitting on a couch, while he sat on the floor behind them. A cube was floating above his hand, suspended by his telepathy. They parked the bike, and made their way toward the ship. _My parents had trouble raising me. I knew what they were thinking, so I did my best not to act suspicious._ They reached where the ship was submerged, but didn't board it. They got comfortable, planning to wait until night fell to escape in the darkness.

Leo continued, _I lived very cautiously so as not to be detected by the psion check. Fortunately, Soldier and the others rescued me before the adult examination. All the children on the mothership were brought through similar circumstances. There are those like you among the Mu who awakened during the adult examination. But those rescued at that point no longer have any memories of their past. Right then, you refused to let go of your memories. That is an incredible thing._

Again, Jomy recalled resisting the computer during his examination—feeling like he was losing part of himself, and struggling so hard not to let go.

Jomy touched his face. "I was just…"

Leo was smiling again. His smile was always soft and comforting. _You are strong…and you have the warmth of a happy home that we do not have. You are special._

His words, however, weren't comforting to Jomy, who was still struggling with everything that had happened. Silence fell over the two, who relaxed against the wall. Sparks were falling down near them from work being done above. The ambient noise was enough to distract them both for a time.

On the bridge above them, a truck from Universal Control came to a stop. Soldiers poured out of its trailer, coming to stand at attention beside it. The soldier in command motioned to proceed silently, and the group of soldiers began to jog alongside the side of the road toward the lake facility, keeping quiet as they approached.

Near where Jomy and Leo were, the soldiers were quietly traversing the interior of the empty facility, moving soundlessly through the darkness. They went down staircases, around corners.

Leo and Jomy had no idea they were coming.

 _Jomy. We are in need of your strong will,_ Leo insisted to Jomy, who was sitting on a pipe.

"I'm…

 _So, please, once more…!_

Leo was cut off. He could sense them nearby. He turned around quickly to look, and a line of lights turned on across a channel they were beside. Soldiers were standing there, aiming guns at them with lights mounted on top. They were surrounded. Leo covered his eyes, and an alarmed Jomy stood up.

A deep voice came from the one soldier who didn't have a light aimed at them. He was standing up straight and still, with an air of authority about him. "You must be serial number AD06223…Jomy Marcus Shin!" He was staring right at Jomy, seemingly uninterested in Leo beside him.

The air around Leo changed. Something quickly came over him—Jomy stared as his entire body began to glow with a green aura. Leo raised his hand, and all of the lights were destroyed. Leo grabbed Jomy by the hand, yelling into his mind, _Jump!_ He pulled Jomy over the railing and they both jumped down into the water. The soldiers open fired into the water, hoping to hit either of the young men. They swam through the water toward the submerged ship, narrowly avoiding the bullets cascading through the water. Leo lost his glasses.

Above water, the soldier in command ordered them to ceasefire. The bullets stopped, and a soldier stepped forward holding some kind of grenade launcher. He aimed straight out over the water, and fired. A tiny machine flew out over the water, before arcing downward and hitting the surface. It sent a blanket of electricity over the water. Leo and Jomy were paralyzed with pain, and Leo lost consciousness. When the electricity died off, they both began to sink.

Jomy was able to keep his eyes open a few moments longer, though his body was still paralyzed. He could see Leo a few feet away from him, unconscious and sinking to the bottom of the water. Jomy finally lost consciousness himself, and both were left defenseless.

* * *

From hundreds of miles away, the room where Blue slept suddenly went cold. A disturbance rang through the room like a whistle through an echoing hallway.

Blue's eyes flew open. "Jomy!"

On the bridge, Harley was seated in the captain's chair, overlooking the ship's controls when suddenly, Blue's voice came into his mind. _Harley, prepare to send out an emergency rescue party._

Harley jumped up from his seat. "Soldier!"

 _Jomy and Leo are in danger._

* * *

"Jomy. Jomy!"

Jomy struggled to open his eyes. Sunlight was streaming onto his face.

With a gasp, he shot upright. He was sitting in his bed in his pajamas. He was in his home. It was his mom's voice he could hear calling for him. He was breathing heavily.

"Jomy! You'll be late for school!"

His alarm was going off. He looked around in a panic. This wasn't the lake facility. Leo was nowhere in sight.

He reached over and silenced his alarm.

"I'm…" he trailed off, staring at his room.

Though he was somewhat relieved to see he was home, something felt…wrong. He could almost feel something clinging to his forehead, like a suction cup. But when he reached up to see what it was, nothing was there. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that something _was._

He made his way downstairs, where his mother was setting breakfast on the table. She smiled at him. "Good morning. You slept in again."

"Mom!" Jomy stared wide-eyed at his mother.

"Dad left for work already. You'd better hurry and eat your breakfast." Jomy continued to stare at his mom and the breakfast she'd made like a deer in headlights. His mom set an empty cup next to one of the plates. "What's wrong, Jomy?"

Jomy tried to shake off the shock. "Nothing. I had a bad dream," he replied with a shaky voice.

"Dream? What kind of dream?" She filled the cup with milk.

"I failed the adult examination, and was chased…and then escaped from Ataraxia."

"And?"

"I was taken to this big ship," he explained. His mother was listening intently. Jomy took a moment to recall all the Mus he had met—Captain Harley, the little girl Carina, Physis…Soldier Blue.

After thinking of Soldier Blue, the thought of Blue washed over his consciousness. Jomy couldn't focus on his mother, or look away from Blue's face. It felt like Blue was standing right in front of him.

Blue was looking right at him with bright red eyes. _"Jomy…Jomy…!"_ His voice was urgent. Jomy stared at his face, paralyzed. _"Wake up…!"_ A ringing filled his ears, the same that he'd heard on the ship. Only now it was much louder. It hurt his head.

He finally realized that the ringing must come from Soldier Blue. It must have been coming from him all along.

And he was very close to him now.

" _Wake up! Jomy!"_

Jomy began to tremble. The feeling of something attached to his forehead suddenly grew stronger. Blue faded from his vision, and the ringing became quieter. He could see his mom again.

His mother continued to press for answers, still smiling. It was discomforting. It was unnatural. "Tell me about this big ship. Where was it?"

"It was submerged in the clouds."

His mom abruptly faded from his vision. A scream cracked the unsettling silence. It was the voice of Leo. Jomy could see Leo, though the image was vague. Leo was strapped into some kind of machine, and the pain on his face was terrible. No noise came from his mouth, but Jomy could hear his mind screaming in agony. It was the same machine Jomy had been hooked up to for his 'psychological test.'

"Leo!" Jomy cried out. Seeing Leo in such terrible pain sent an awful shock throughout his whole body.

But the image of his mother pushed its way into his mind again. "Within the clouds? Whereabouts?"

"In the clouds…" he started to say. However, before he continued, he managed to regain some control over himself. "Where's Leo? He was with me."

The image of Leo came back into his eyes. Leo being tortured, screaming with pain.

Several scientists stood beyond a glass panel, viewing Leo's psion test. Bars were spinning around Leo at a rapid speed. The head scientist ordered, "Raise the level by ten percent."

"But that could lead to a mental breakdown," another said. Leo's scream was echoing through the background, muffled by the walls separating them.

"I don't care," he snapped. "Once we get the Mu's location out of him, he's no longer of any use to us."

The machine began to spin faster. Leo's screams became worse. He was being pushed very close to his limit.

In a neighboring room, Jomy lie on a table. Monitors were attached to his forehead. He could hear Leo's screaming, and he began to tremble. He tried to wake up—his whole body stiffened. In his mind he cried out, _"Stop it! Leo!"_

But he was still trapped in their game. His mother cut off reality—he was pulled back into the dream. "There's no need to worry about the Mu. Their existence is dangerous, they're a foe to humanity." She leaned in, still looking at him with a fake smile. "We must eliminate them." She was saying such terrible things without a hint of real emotion.

"Mom!" he cried. He knew this woman was not his mother. She wasn't real.

His mom spoke again, but her voice was different. It was mechanical. When Jomy blinked, it was no longer an image of his mother. Jomy could barely see the Number Computer between his blinks, overshadowing his mother. The voice was the voice of the computer that Blue had rescued him from.

"You understand, don't you, Jomy?" the computer asked through the mouth of his mother. The more he blinked, the more he saw her. "So, listen to what your mother's telling you."

"No! You are not my mom!" he screamed.

Flashbacks began to flood his mind. Images of him with his parents—on the rollercoaster with his mom; tucked into his father's suit. He recalled being hugged by his mother, and remembered the warmth that he felt in her embrace. That feeling was real, and no computer could ever imitate it. The face of his _real_ mother took over his mind.

Now all he saw before him was the distorted, asymmetrical face of the computer. "I'm…I'm…!"

He saw the computer, drifting above a sea of grass with a bright blue sky behind it. "Jo…my…Jo…my…"

Leo's scream came back into his mind. It was all he could hear.

And finally, Jomy snapped.

He screamed, and his whole body flooded with power. The scientists monitoring him shielded themselves as electricity shot off his body. His scream shook their very souls, and they stumbled back away from him. The lights were cut off, and Jomy's body glowed with blue light.

He continued to scream, and electricity destroyed things in the room. The scientists ran for the door in terror, but the door closed and locked itself, trapping them inside. All of the doors in the facility slammed shut and promptly locked in response to Jomy's sudden burst of energy. The scientists stared back in horror at the boy on the observation table.

His eyes flew open.

He screamed again—it shook the entire facility, and his body was engulfed in a light too bright to look at.

The disturbance flew across the planet at the speed of light. Even on the distant Shangri La, Physis felt it and dropped her card. The card that landed on the floor turned face up, revealing the Death tarot card. Physis stood from her seat.

Rings of blue light ripped through the top of the Universal Control tower, cutting through the metal like a hot knife through butter. The round facility at the top was split in half, and half of it shook and fell from the top of the tower.

From one of the rooms exposed by the destroyed tower, a blue light shot forth. The half of the facility that had fallen crashed into the ground below, destroying everything beneath it and sending a massive cloud of smoke and fire into the sky.

Aboard the Shangri La, all of the Mus were trembling with pain. They could hear the scream, and felt the pain of Jomy's emotions tearing through their souls and minds like knives. They were paralyzed, holding their ears in an attempt to drown out the terrible scream.

Finally, the scream faded, and the Mus were able to regain control of themselves.

Captain Harley was on the bridge with the elders, shocked by what had occurred. "What in the world happened?!" he exclaimed.

The long-haired elder was stricken. "I felt a powerful thought for a moment," she said urgently.

A woman's voice from elsewhere on the bridge declared, "Brining up image on main screen." Everyone looked up. A screen appeared, showing an image of what had occurred in Ataraxia—the top of Universal Control being cut in half and falling, the blue light shooting forth from the destruction.

The bald elder sat in a seat that rose up to meet the other elders on the bridge. "I've never felt such a powerful thought. It was like an explosion." He was frowning deeply.

From elsewhere on the ship, Physis held her heart. She called out, " _Jomy, don't let your heart get so upset."_ Her voice echoed out into the world, trying to reach Jomy. The black man who still stood at the base of the staircase gasped and quickly made his way up. Physis continued, " _You'll destroy yourself."_

She was overcome by the power surging through the air, and collapsed. The black man reached her just in time to catch her. "Miss Physis!" he cried. The Weeping Mouse jumped up onto his shoulder, looking over him at Physis.

On the bridge, the Mus were monitoring the situation closely. "Psionic reaction energy increasing!" a woman said urgently. The screen was locked onto the blue light, which was travelling up into the sky at an alarming speed.

Suddenly, the screen changed. Soldier Blue appeared. He had risen from his comatose sleep, and was out of bed, suddenly filled with a strength that the elders had not seen in a long time. "It's Jomy!"

"Soldier!" Harley exclaimed.

"Jomy's power has awakened," Blue explained. "I'll go."

"Soldier!" he cried again.

"I'll bring Jomy back."

In Ataraxia, the half of the facility that remained atop the tower was dark and filled with smoke.

Leo struggled out toward the edge of the building's remains, clutching his chest. He fell to the floor, coughing from the smoke, and looked up into the sky. He saw the blue light pass, getting farther and farther away. Leo could feel the surge of energy coming from him. _Jomy!_ he cried. Finally, his pain was too much. He collapsed onto the floor, losing consciousness.

In the distance, Jomy was traveling through the atmosphere, engulfed in a sphere of blue light—a sphere of energy coming from within him.

He let out a pulsating scream, and tore through the sky toward space.


	4. Section 4- Return from Space

SECTION 4- RETURN FROM SPACE

Across the runway, engines were igniting—black jets under the control of Universal were coming to life. Their single red light on their right lit up like an ever-watching eye glaring forward. The jets, armed with as many missiles and guns that they could carry, were one by one taking off from the runway, flying into the sky at top speed in pursuit of the fleeing Jomy, who was still engulfed with blue light.

On the Shangri La, the Mus were also keeping a close eye on what was happening. "The psion reaction from above Ataraxia continues to move at an incredibly high speed," the woman reported. Its energy level is on the rise."

Captain Harley, seating at the front of the bridge in command, was in awe. _"What power!"_ he thought to himself. _"This energy is coming from Jomy himself?"_

Jomy sped over the city, with the jets in close pursuit. Their speed was too great. Jomy let out another furious scream, and the jets struggled to stay close to him. Waves of blue energy were cascading over their sleek black forms. Jomy aimed higher toward the sky.

The jets open fired on Jomy, who began to fly erratically in an effort to dodge them. He covered his head, flying blindly.

"Go away… _Go away!"_ he screamed, his voice echoing across the entire city.

In the distance, the Shangri La was rising above the clouds. On its deck stood Soldier Blue, engulfed in the same blue light that Jomy was. Rings of energy were spinning around his body, and his eyes were closed with concentration. He could feel the energy of Jomy—he could hear his screams, feel his emotions. The energy was revitalizing Blue's previously weakened body. He stood with a new strength that he had lacked not just for a few years, but for decades.

" _This is amazing,"_ he thought quietly to himself, letting the energy envelop and energize him. _"You're so far away, yet I can still feel your energy…"_

His eyes opened. He called out into the clear atmosphere, _Jomy. I'm coming for you._

Captain Harley could hear Soldier Blue on the outside of the ship, and tried to interject with his own telepathy. _Soldier…_

 _Take care of Leo,_ Blue ordered into Harley's mind.

 _Please wait a minute! You're in no shape to –_

But Soldier Blue had no interest in being told he was too weak. He crouched down and pushed off the deck of the ship, taking off into the sky toward the distant mountain range surrounding Ataraxia.

Jomy looked back over his shoulder, and could see the jets just a few hundred feet behind him through the blue haze surrounding him. _"What's going on?"_ he cried out in his mind. _"What's…?"_

He covered his head and cried out as the jets continued to fire at him. Bullets whizzed past him, though the ones that got too close seemed to be deterred by the energy sphere surrounding him.

"Stop it!" he screamed.

He began to spin out of control.

Suddenly, he heard a voice calling out to him. It penetrated the protective energy around him with ease, filling his mind. It was the voice of Blue.

 _Jomy! Calm down. Calm down, Jomy!_

Jomy could feel a massive presence approaching him. He turned around, believing for a moment that it was the jets coming nearer. "No way! Don't touch me!" he cried. One jet was coming straight at him with no fear for its own safety. Jomy covered his head and screamed with fear as the jet crashed into him. The jet didn't touch him—it hit the blue sphere around him, and was instantly destroyed. Jomy was engulfed with smoke and fire for a moment before he emerged from the wreckage unscathed.

Consumed with fear, he soared straight up into the sky.

The jets began to pursue, purposely crashing into him like kamikazes in an attempt to stop him. Jomy could feel their desperation around them as they destroyed themselves by hitting his protective sphere. Jomy squeezed his eyes closed, screamed, and tried to fly faster. He had to escape them.

Soldier Blue was nearly there. "Jomy! Who could've imagined such power!" he said to himself as he flew through the sky toward where Jomy was. He could hear Jomy's scream, and the wave of energy that came with it. The wave hit Blue and sent energy coursing through his body, giving him more strength. Blue was feeding off it.

He could finally see the blue light that was Jomy, flying straight up. He aimed upward to match him, and quickly closed the distance, trying to catch up.

* * *

Physis had finally regained consciousness. The energy pulsating through the atmosphere which had caused her to collapse was finally growing weaker as Jomy was farther away. The black man who watched over her stood behind her, watching her worriedly, prepared to catch her if she collapsed again. She clasped her hands together, and tried to sense where Soldier Blue and Jomy were. "Soldier…"

On the bridge, Harley stood at the front with his arms folded. He was frowning deeply, and was very silent.

The woman elder, seated beside him, was growing anxious. "Soldier's leaving the telepathy range."

Harley gulped, and turned slightly to look at those stationed on the bridge. "We're surfacing the ship!" he commanded.

The woman elder was shocked. "Captain!" They all knew what it meant to raise the Shangri La fully above the cloud cover. It would mean imminent discovery. The humans would swarm them. All the elders stared at him in silence.

But he showed no sign of changing his mind. He would do what he needed to. "All units prepare to ascend." An alarm began to ring throughout the massive ship. "Defense section, cancel stealth mode. We'll attract the attention of Universal!"

The bald man looked over his shoulder from his seat. "You're planning to reveal our location to the humans?"

"We're attracting the enemy's attention only until Soldier and Jomy return!" he explained. Drawing the attention of the humans would give Soldier Blue the opportunity to approach Jomy without the threat of the jets crashing into them. "Defense section, do not lose your concentration."

A voice came over the intercom, speaking to all the Mus on the ship. The teacher stood in the courtyard near the bridge with Carina, and another girl. "All units prepare to ascend to the surface. All those not on duty are to move to the center of the ship."

Carina turned to the teacher with a frightened look in her eyes. "Professor!"

The tiny blonde girl grabbed at his cape. "I'm afraid of humans!" she cried. "Will they kill us?" The teacher reached out and held her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"It's going to be fine. There's no need to worry," he assured them. "Calm down and move on." They began to make their way toward the center of the ship.

The clouds stirred.

They parted as a massive form rose toward the stars into sight. The Shangri La, an impressively large white ship with a single ring surrounding its shape ascended above the clouds. The sides of the ring were shaped to match the wings that extended from the ship's sides. Its shape was reminiscent of a sword, with wings emerging from its side. The ships rear from above looked like a large triangle, like the hilt of a sword, while the front of the ship was long and came to a point—like the blade. It had a small, flat deck, and near the back of the ship, the bridge rose from the ship's form, allowing a view out the front of the ship. The bridge had an elongated Greek character "μ" on its side, meaning "Mu."

Its size was unbelievable, and with the stealth system down, they were quickly noticed.

"Attack force is launching!" a man reported over a loudspeaker across the area surrounding the Universal Control tower. "Air alert for all areas of Ataraxia! I repeat…we have detected an unidentified large vessel, believed to be the Mu's mothership. Attack force is launching from Artemisia defense base."

The men overseeing the observational terminals were, as usual, observing the events on their giant screen. "A large ship?" the tall man inquired. "How could the Mu have acquired such a thing?"

The shorter man, smoking his pipe, said, "A reconnaissance satellite feed is coming up on the screen."

A static-y image came into focus, showing a bird-s eye view of the Shangri La flying above the clouds. A grid formed over the ship as it was scanned. A man reported over a speaker, "We're checking the unidentified large ship… We have the matched results."

The wireframe scan of the ship rotated on top of the actual image until it was vertical. "With a matching accuracy at 32 percent and identical natural frequency…" A second wireframe image—colored blue—slid away from the original image, picturing a different ship that was about 60 percent as long as the Shangri La. It looked like it would fit perfectly into the back end of the ship, as though the Shangri La had been built around it. The man continued his explanation, "…it is believed to be registration number 4771411…the _Constitution."_

"There are only a few similarities," the tall man observed. "It's an awfully old model, Mr. Mayor."

The short man replied, "According to the records, it was shipwrecked three hundred years ago."

"The shape's been changed considerably. How have they reconstructed it?

"This isn't good… Who could've thought the Mu had such a large ship? If the citizens got word of us fighting this thing…it could cause panic!"

The tall scientist reassured him, "There's no need to worry. The residents have never expressed any interest in what happens outside the city."

"Let's hope it remains that way," the Mayor said.

High above the city, a massive force of ships was mobilizing. Huge battleships were gliding through the sky, surrounded and flanked by black jets. They were all sleek and black, with minimal lights on their forms. The jets that their red eyes, while the battleships had green lights on their wings. The sound of the engines was echoing across the city, and the sonic booms of the jets were making the buildings and houses tremble. People were coming outside to gaze up at the sky. They saw the fleet of sheets, and many people were in shock.

The only time they ever saw anything like this was on TV.

Cars were slowing, pedestrians were stopped in their tracks. Bicyclers pulled off to the side of streets to look up into the sky.

Everyone was looking up.

"What's that?" people were asking.

And the people of the city weren't the only ones to notice the fleet of ships in the sky.

A young Mu with long black hair—half pulled up with a pink bow—reported to the Shangri La bridge, "Multiple silhouettes detected over Ataraxia approaching at a tremendous speed. They'll reach us in three minutes!"

Harley gathered himself, and called out to the bridge with supreme authority, "All units prepare for battle! Attack section, intercept as soon as enemy objects enter firing range!"

The dark-skinned elder with the tattooed face turned to face the captain with urgency. Her heterochromia of two different shades of brown was striking in the light of the bridge. "There are too many!"

"Just do what you can," Harley replied. "Our shield will protect us from the rest."

"Roger."

Harley looked toward his leader of defense. "Defense section, got that?"

"Y-yes. We'll do our best."

* * *

Jomy was still flying straight up into the sky in a blind fury. He couldn't look back. He was terrified. He could feel the massive presence right behind him…the jets were going to crash into him again. "Go away!" he screamed desperately. "Go away!"

But no bullets came from the presence behind him. It was a voice. "Wait! Jomy!" Soldier Blue was flying directly beneath him, trying to catch up. He knew that Jomy wouldn't recognize him in his emotional meltdown. He was doing his best to reach out, but he was unsuccessful. Jomy was associating his energy with that of the jets.

Soldier Blue tried to speak to him with telepathy, hoping he would recognize his voice. _If you continue to increase your speed, you'll end up flying out into space!_

Jomy showed no signs of responding, so Soldier Blue took a deep breath and absorbed some of the energy trailing off of Jomy. He felt it surge through his veins, and used it for a brief burst of speed. He finally was able to catch up to Jomy, and reached out—he grabbed Jomy's shoulder, and pulled himself up directly in front of Jomy. "Listen to me, Jomy."

But even though Blue was right in front of him, Jomy was still blinded with fear. "Don't touch me!" he screamed, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to shake Blue off. But Blue just held him tighter.

"Listen to me!" he yelled. "Jomy!" Blue's blood-red eyes ignited with blue light. He tried to press through Jomy's uncontrolled fear—tried to get Jomy to recognize him. For a moment, Jomy stared into his eyes.

But then he lost control again.

" _NO!"_ he screamed desperately. The light around him grew too bright, and engulfed them both. In a last attempt to calm Jomy, Soldier Blue forced himself into Jomy's mind, and released his energy.

* * *

Jomy was suddenly still. A massive glass tower rose from a city up toward the sky, nearly reaching the clouds. It was silent all around Jomy. He was seated on a long black bench, surrounded by others his age. Everyone was silent, and avoiding looking at one another. It was unsettling. It was too silent.

" _Where am I?"_ Jomy thought. His thought echoed around him. The entire area, all of the people—it all felt surreal.

Jomy looked around, trying to recognize something or someone. His eyes settled on a panel of glass beside him. His eyes widened.

He wasn't looking at himself.

The reflection looking back was not his own. It was a young boy with pale, platinum blond hair, and bright blue eyes. They were the color of the sky, and as clear as water.

He looked down at himself, and then looked back to the reflection. The hair and eye colors were wrong, but he knew who this person was. The likeness of the face was unmistakable.

It was a younger Soldier Blue.

"I'm…!"

A nurse stepped in front of the glass panel, blocking Jomy's view of his reflection. She held a tablet, and though she spoke to him, she didn't look at him. "It's your turn next."

* * *

The girl with the pink bow reported, "The radar has detected Soldier and Jomy! They've surpassed level one space speed! They're about to enter satellite orbit!" The bridge's screen showed the image of the two. Their energy had combined as they clung to one another, now moving as a single sphere. Harley looked on with great concern.

" _Jomy…What power!"_ he thought.

* * *

Jomy was lying on a bed. He wore a strange helmet, and was covered in tiny machines not unlike suction cups. The machine he was about to be pushed into looked similar to that of an MRI machine. He was shirtless, wearing only gray pants.

Jomy was extremely uncomfortable in the helmet. He tried to squirm, but he had lost all control of this body. He felt separate from him, though he was trapped inside him. He could feel that this young Blue was calm.

A woman said over a small speaker, "Commencing adult examination. Just relax."

" _Adult examination?"_ Jomy thought. He could see the doctors through a glass window in front of him, overseeing the machinery. The nurse was standing inside the room, her hands folded. She was watching him.

The bed trembled, and then began to move inside the machine. Jomy could feel a sting of anxiety within Blue as he tried to look around.

" _What do you mean? What's going on?"_ Jomy asked erratically. Blue's anxiety was getting worse. _"Wait…! Wait!"_

The young blue closed his eyes, and Jomy couldn't see anything anymore, though he still felt frightened. There was no rapid spinning, no floating in a giant room with a disfigured computer. This adult examination seemed much less frightening.

As the seconds of silence ticked on, he felt Blue calming down a bit. It was somewhat reassuring to Jomy, though he still felt afraid.

And then, a voice spoke out within the machine. A voice that sent a terrible feeling through Jomy. It was the voice of one of the Number Computers, just like the one Jomy had encountered during his own exam. "Throw away all of your memories," she said.

Finally, Blue opened his eyes, allowing Jomy to see again. The inside of the machine was somewhat like the room Jomy had been in. Though he knew they were inside a machine, it looked as though the bed they were on was suspended in an abyss. Blue looked around, growing anxious again.

"You shall be born unto Terra as a completely new person," the computer said.

"No!" Blue cried, although Jomy couldn't tell if it was himself speaking through Blue. He felt like he had regained some control in his panic. "No way…I don't wanna take an adult examination. No way! _NO!"_

The scream that echoed was exactly like the scream from Jomy when he was escaping.

The machines that were monitoring Blue became static-y. Readings were going out of control. One doctor exclaimed, "Hey! What's happening?"

The lights began to flicker.

"Check it!"

"Right."

The doctors fumbled for a moment, and then the computer screens froze. They began to crack with bolts of electricity. The nurse inside the examination room gasped as the machine began to violently shake; electricity covered its entire surface, and a bright light filled the room.

The nurse screamed with fear, and the machine exploded.

When the smoke cleared, Blue sat upright. The helmet was destroyed, though the tiny machines were still covering his chest. The debris of the machine and helmet was suspended in the air around his body, which was aglow with a bright blue light. _"Wh-what the…?"_ Blue looked at his hands. _"I-I'm…!"_ When he moved his head to look around, all of the floating debris moved with him. He looked at the nurse, who was on the floor.

"Help me!" she cried to the doctors. She looked at Blue with terrified eyes. She covered her head with her arms, and looked away. "D-don't kill me!"

Blue's hair faded to a stark white, and his eyes faded to a bright blood red, like ink staining a paper. Jomy could feel Blue's panic, and it was the worst feeling he'd ever felt. He stared at the nurse. "No! I won't do anything." He stood in the bed, and the debris followed him. The nurse saw him move, and screamed with horror.

The door to the room opened, and four soldiers ran in holding guns. They all aimed at Blue. Blue turned to face them. The debris spun around, staying aligned to his body.

"Wait! I didn't do anything!" he begged.

"Fire!"

The soldiers all shot at Blue, who covered his head. The bullets never hit him, however. They were vaporized by the energy surrounding him. However, the force of the impact blew Blue back. He screamed and fell of the bed, landing on the floor.

* * *

The fleet of ships had reached the Shangri La.

The flew directly above the massive ship, firing upon it—however, the bullets and missiles all exploded a few hundred feet away from the ship, which was protected by an invisible shield held intact by the defense section.

Veins of purple light pulsated across the exterior of the Shangri La, gathering at its surface. When the energy was concentrated, a purple plasma beam shot off the ship, destroying one of the jets. One by one, the veins of light gathered into energy and beams were fired into the fleet, destroying ships and causing massive explosions.

Though the ship was well protected from the physical impacts of the attacks, the energy of the missiles and bullets was allowed to pass through the shield. The ship trembled terribly, and the Mus on the bridge held on to their terminals. The Mus were beginning to panic.

"Calm down!" came Harley's firm voice. "What's the damage to the ship?"

"No damage to the ship, but the strength of the shield is rapidly decreasing!"

"Defense section, maintain output!" he ordered. "If you need to, increase personnel!" The ship trembled again, and Harley stumbled.

* * *

Blue had been taken captive.

From the examination room, he'd been moved to another room. This room was dark, and lit only with a dark red light. Scientists surrounded the bed he was strapped to. One was holding a large helmet with cords attached. He placed it on Blue's head, and Blue was held down with the straps. The scientists were seated at a terminal, monitoring his brainwaves. Above the round table he was strapped to was a ring with a bright light mounted on a track. It was slowly moving back and forth over Blue's body.

Lights on the top of the helmet ignited, and Jomy felt a pain fill Blue's body. Blue began to tremble.

"He stopped all the bullets with telekinesis?" he heard a scientist ask. Blue was beginning to gasp with pain, his trembling getting worse. "I trust we've blocked off his psion sufficiently."

"Perhaps the adult examination triggered it," another scientist suggested. The light on the track began to move faster. "The synapse stimulation controlling his memory altered the brain structure, causing psion activation."

"So, by refusing to give in to the Terra's Number's memory deletion, he caused his psion to take shape. Which means there's a great chance that more people like Blue will be born."

Blue was sweating, and squirming uncontrollably from the pain. He kept trying to turn over, but was unable to because of the straps securing him to the table.

Other scientists were looking at an image of Blue sitting on the floor in what looked to be a prisoner's outfit. "So there will be more of them. What a troublesome thought. How are the psion detection methods progressing in the adult examinations?"

"Going smoothly. Using the examination, we should try and catch the target group off guard, and examine their minds more thoroughly."

Others were strapped to round tables just like Blue, having their minds pierced and intruded upon. Some died from the pain. Some broke free from their restraints before collapsing or dying. Nurses stared in horror.

"What incredible numbers," the scientists continued to observe. "Sudden mutations… Can't we stop the outbreak of Mu?"

"The decision has been made to close the education city Altamira on Ganymede. The annihilation of Mu is an absolute order from Grandmother."

Many Mu were killed, and bagged up—frozen with faces covered in pain, tears dried to their faces.

"Of course. There's no way we can tolerate people who eavesdrop on other people's minds."

All of the discovered Mu were held in a group cell, void of light. They were crammed together, and there was only one window looking out. Blue stood in the window, tears streaming down his face. He slammed his fist on the reinforced glass. "Open up! We've done nothing wrong! Tell us, what have we done?!"

His despair ignited the blue light around his body as his crippled over with agony.

Eventually, his power grew too strong.

Much like Jomy's own power had, Blue's power exploded. He freed the Mu from their prison. As they were about to escape, suddenly a large shadow was cast over the planet. A bright light shined down on the city. A beam pierced the surface of the planet, and fire began to spread. A wave of destruction ate the planet.

A man's voice could be heard commanding attack forces, "Our forces will attack the education city Altamira…"

Blue led the Mu as they fled. They all ran together through the destruction. Blue and a young Harley led them through the fires, toward a large ship in the distance. "Hurry up! Everyone to the ship!" Blue called urgently as the Mu all ran toward him. The ship's engine was powering up, and the Mu boarded quickly. The ship slowly rose, above the flaming city. They could see the wave of nuclear energy quickly approaching in the distance.

The man continued, "…using planet-destroying weapons as part of an operation to annihilate Mu. We will exterminate Mu at its roots."

One young man hadn't made it, and was holding onto a Mu aboard the ship. Tears streamed from his eyes, and horror was plastered on his face. "No! I don't wanna die! _Zel!"_ His hand slipped, and the boy plummeted toward the inferno screaming.

A young man, who Jomy recognized undoubtedly as the bald elder from the Shangri La, screamed, "Hans! Hans!" He tried to reach out, though there was nothing he could do. Harley held him from jumping out of the ship.

The ship flew into space at full speed.

Behind the ship, the planet shattered like a glass sphere being dropped. Flames engulfed it, and a ring of fire exploded out from the planet as it was completely destroyed. The ship escaped safely into space.

* * *

Jomy opened his eyes. Tears were flowing out before him—he was floating, weightless. There was no air, yet he was alive. His body was still glowing blue, his energy protecting him from suffocating. Jomy's eyes focused on what was in front of him.

Soldier Blue was holding onto him, smiling softly. He, too, was glowing blue. His cape was flowing off his back weightlessly. His red eyes were piercing.

Jomy trembled. "Why is this happening?"

Soldier Blue was nearly touching his face. They clung together, Jomy's tears rolling off of Blue's face.

"Welcome back, Jomy," he said.

Soldier Blue moved away, holding Jomy's hand tightly. The sun began to rise beyond the distant planet.

"Soldier…what was that?" Jomy asked quietly.

"That was my memory," he answered. "I wanted to show you the treatment the Mu had to endure."

"How could they do such horrible things?" Jomy sobbed.

"Humans are creatures that will fear and eliminate those who are unlike themselves."

"That's terrible."

Blue closed his eyes, and looked away. Jomy could feel a strong sadness coming from him. "I've sent messages to Terra many times…but they will not listen to what I have to say."

"So what do you want me to do about it?!" he cried.

"My flame will soon burn out."

Jomy gasped.

"From now on, you shall lead them," Blue said, looking right into Jomy's eyes. "You shall make your way to Terra and relay my thoughts."

"That's crazy! I couldn't possibly replace you…"

* * *

The Shangri La was nearing its breaking point.

Its pristine white surface was covered in black marks from explosions. The air was uncomfortably still—the human forces had pulled back to regroup.

Harley stood on the bridge, tense. "We weathered the first wave," he said aloud to his people."

"Far from it!" the bald elder—Zel—said angrily. Harley looked to him. "The engine alone has taken three hits!"

Near the engine, Mu were holding hoses and practically flooding the halls to douse the fires. Air hissed from damaged pipes.

Zel looked angrily to the man in charge of defense. "Defense section! What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"We've reached our limit!" he cried. "The impact of the bombing was greater than imagined. Everyone is exhausted. We can't gather our minds any further…"

"Captain!" the woman elder exclaimed. "We Mu are not like the violent humans. We are not used to being exposed to a stressful situation over a long period. And we've never been involved in a real battle in these three hundred years."

"We cannot give up on Soldier and the others," Harley snapped. "Don't you agree?"

"Well, that's true, but…" Zel grumbled.

An alarm rang through the bridge. A woman with round glasses called, "The second wave is coming. Seven minutes before we reach our target!"

Harley turned. "Notify the attack section! Prepare for counterattack!"

"Message received from the rescue party," someone said. Harley looked to them. "They have succeeded in rescuing Leo. They have escaped from Ataraxia but are being closely pursued by combat planes."

"We've come this far. Might as well finish the job," Harley said. "Change course! We're going to Ataraxia!"

"We'll bring in the rescue team as soon as we can!"

Harley turned to the woman elder. "Have you reached Soldier?"

"I've been calling him, but…"

"What's Soldier's position?" Harley demanded, looking to the woman with the glasses.

"He is circling the planet on the opposite side, so we're not able to track him even with the radar," she reported.

Harley balled his fist. "Dammit!" he yelled. Nearby, they could hear the rumble of the human fleet drawing closer. The battleships launched hundreds of missiles at once, aimed directly for the Shangri La. Plasma beams fired from the ship's exterior, destroying several missiles and ships. Some missiles were stopped by the shield surrounding the ship.

However, some got through.

The missiles did not explode on impact, however. They ripped their way through the hull of the ship into the hallways, and exploded within. Mus roaming the hallways were killed in the blasts. Screams filled the ship.

Hundreds more missiles rained from the fleet above. The attack section continued to fire lasers and take out more ships and missiles, but the defense section was quickly growing weak. More missiles were allowed to hit the ship.

* * *

Blue looked away from Jomy, releasing his hand and spreading his arms. "Take a good look around you." Jomy looked, and gasped. They were floating in space. "You climbed up here on your own. You have incredible power, greater than any Mu."

Jomy was looking at the planet, when suddenly, Blue began to whimper. He reached out and grabbed Jomy's shoulders. "Soldier!" Jomy cried worriedly. Blue's face was pained. The energy he had finally built up was spent—it was beginning to fade.

"Jomy…you can…do it," he struggled to say.

The light surrounding Blue faded, and he fell unconscious. He was left vulnerable in space, unprotected and unable to breathe. Without the protection of his energy, Blue began to fall past Jomy toward the planet, pulled in by its gravity.

"Blue!" Jomy screamed in terror.

He could hear Blue's voice speaking into his mind, even though his body had failed. _Jomy…I'm sorry…I chose you. I apologize…from my heart…_

Jomy propelled himself after the plummeting Blue, reaching out for him desperately. "Blue! _Soldier Blue!"_

* * *

The ships unleashed a barrage of fire upon the Shangri La. There were too many missiles to deflect. The attack section continued to destroy hundreds of ships, but the defense section was failing. Missiles continued to pierce the hull, as well as explode on impact. The jets circled the ship, unleashed all their fury.

The ship was trembling violently, throwing the bridge into a panic. Everyone grabbed onto their seats with fear.

"Direct hit to the engine! Warp drive is damaged!"

Harley, who was struggling to maintain his balance, yelled, "Calm down! We don't need the warp drive now!"

"But!" the woman cried.

"Hold on. Our ship can still withstand this."

In Ataraxia, the mayor and his lead scientist were watching the attack from their satellite. "The decision to change to the bunker bomb has proven to be effective."

The mayor laughed. "Now we can finish off the Mu."

From the city, the lights of the explosions could be seen beyond the silhouette of the mountain range. All of the citizens stood alarmed, watching the sky with horror. Everything within the city had ceased while the attack was going on. The ground was shaking from the explosions, though they could only barely hear them.

* * *

"Soldier Blue!" Jomy cried. "Soldier!"

Jomy finally reached Blue. He pulled him into his embrace, and a sphere of energy appeared around them, protecting them both. Protecting Blue.

Jomy began to fly toward the planet at a terrifying speed. His sphere of light was engulfed in fire. He needed to get Blue to safety.

"Please survive!"

* * *

"Attack section! Don't waste any psion cannon shots!" Harley ordered.

A man with glasses leaned over a spinning machine looked to Harley, panicked. "But there are too many enemy aircraft!"

"Trust our defense section! A war of attrition will put us at a disadvantage. Focus on accurately shooting them down, once at a time!"

"Yes, sir!"

Following their captain's orders, the attack section ceased firing randomly, and began to fire slowly with more accuracy. One by one, the human ships were hit and destroyed. Seeing the attack section's accuracy growing inspired the defense section, who gathered themselves enough finally to block all of the missiles falling onto the ship.

Harley was sweating. "Soldier Blue…hurry…please hurry back!"

The ship trembled, and Harley fell forward. The machines the sections were using were destroyed, crackling with electricity. They tried to shield themselves.

The woman had been thrown from her chair. "Captain, we've reached our limit. We can no longer…"

Harley stood. Blood trickled from his hairline where he'd hit his head. "Not yet," he urged. "Don't give up yet!"

Nearby, the rescue ship was flying quickly through a ravine. A Mu wearing a helmet was piloting, and looked at Leo worriedly. Leo was unconscious, strapped into the seat beside him. "Leo! We're almost there!" The Shangri La came into sight.

Everyone froze.

A sphere of light, engulfed in flame, was rapidly approaching the Shangri La.

"Intense heat object approaching from above at high velocity," the woman with glasses reported.

"New enemies?" Zel demanded. Harley looked at an image of the sphere on the screen before him.

"No, it's coming from even higher than the bombers."

"Navigator, full starboard!" Harley ordered.

The human ships noticed the approaching sphere and began to fire upon it. Their missiles hit the sphere, but didn't pierce it. The fire and smoke slid off of the sphere.

It was Jomy and Blue.

As Jomy passed, his energy crashed into the human ships and destroyed them, leaving a path of fire in his wake. He slowed as he neared the Shangri La, and the fire surrounding his sphere extinguished.

But he didn't land on the Shangri La. He flew past it.

"Intense heat object has missed our ship!"

They all looked at the screen. The woman cried, "Th-that's!"

Jomy flew back up to hover in front of the Shangri La, allowing them to see him. He was surrounded by his sphere of blue energy—his clothes were tattered, and tears stained his face. In his arms, he held Soldier Blue tightly.

"Soldier!" Zel exclaimed.

Harley gasped. "Take those two in immediately and make our way to the rendezvous point to meet up with the rescue pod. We are leaving this area! We're retreating!" Jomy flew forward toward the landing deck.

The massive Shangri La began to rotate as it changed its direction. It began to fly toward Ataraxia, where the escape ship was in sight. The escape ship made its way quickly toward the landing deck.

Zel's voice could be heard announcing across the entire ship, "Attention all units, Soldier Blue has returned. Soldier Blue has returned. Defense section, switch to stealth mode immediately. Switch to stealth mode." The ship began to descend back into the clouds, going out of sight and off the humans' radars.

The mayor and his scientist continued to look on. "They got away?" the scientist asked.

The mayor was disturbed. "Was our fleet not strong enough to wipe out the Mu?"

* * *

Things had settled considerably. The Shangri La was silent, moving slowly through the clouds under the cover of its defense section. It was invisible to humans, and finally safe again.

Deep within the ship, Blue had been returned to his bed. Nurses were standing over him—his coat and cape had been removed, and his chest was wrapped tightly in bandages. His body was finally failing, and quickly. The nurses had done all they could do, and several Mu were trying to support him. Despite the situation, Blue's face was serene and peaceful

Though his body was failing, his mind remained active. He reached out with his telepathy across the entire Shangri La.

 _Friends, families, and comrades whom I have known for a long time. My strength is about to run out._

All of the Mus stood silently in the hallways, in their rooms. They were all listening to Blue.

 _We desire a world where we can live in peace with humans, and have made the effort to talk with them…but it does not look like they will understand us within my lifetime. …From this point on, I entrust my heart to Jomy Marcus Shin._

Within her room, Physis, too, was listening. "Soldier!"

 _Jomy shall be the next Soldier…and his power of life shall be your guide as you make your way to Terra!_

In the bedroom he had received, Jomy sat on his bed, hugging his knees. He was dressed in a uniform nearly identical to Soldier Blue. A red cape sat on his bed beside him. He was listening to Blue's voice, and could hear people replying to it.

 _Did he say Jomy? What can I kid like that do?!_

 _What is Soldier thinking?_

 _Soldier collapsed because of that kid, right?_

 _I heard he fled from the ship on his own._

Jomy trembled with sadness, and hugged his knees tighter. He tried to choke back his tears. They were right. His outburst had driven Blue to waste nearly all of his remaining energy on rescuing him. Blue was dying…and it was his fault.

Suddenly, Blue spoke again. This time, to Jomy alone. _Jomy, you can do it._

"Soldier Blue…" he whimpered. "Right now, I will believe you. …I no longer have any choice. We can't let there be any more children like me."

He listened as Blue's ambient ringing finally faded. The familiar energy that Jomy had been embraced by—the energy of Blue—faded with it. Though Jomy could still feel a slight energy coming from him—reassuring him that Blue hadn't passed away—Jomy could feel that Blue had finally lost all strength and drifted off into a deep coma. He took a long moment to compose himself.

"I will live my life as a Mu."


	5. Section 5- Leap of Death

SECTION 5- LEAP OF DEATH

A holographic screen was replaying the captured footage of the battle with the Mu's mothership the Shangri La. Cameras had been mounted on the exterior of several of Universal's bombers, as well as several jets. Periodically rotating through the different camera views, the footage showed several key moments throughout the battle. In a dark room, six different city mayors had gathered to view the footage together—among them, the Mayor of Ataraxia. They all stared in silence at the spherical screen as it replayed the footage once again. A computer had selected important moments for playback: the beginning of the battle; the humans finally breaking through the ship's defense to deal considerable damage with their bombs; the ship's defenses being restored; and the battle's end, during which the blue light that had escaped the Universal Control tower landed on the ship's deck before it descended back into the clouds and their radars lost any trace of it.

The screen vanished as the human leaders dismissed it. A man in a dark suit inquired, "Why won't Terra's Number Five allow us to attack?"

The frowning mayor, who'd watched the battle live from the Universal Control tower, snapped back, "Where? If we can't see where the Mu went, there's no sense trying to chase them, is there?"

Among the ring of men was a single woman seating beside the mayor, with short brown hair and an orange cravat. Her hands were folded in her lap, and she was very calm. "Mr. Mayor. About that matter…we at Energeia have received instructions from Terra's Number Five."

"Why only Energeia?" the mayor demanded. All the men were stunned by her news.

"We have the newly developed Psion Tracers in our possession," she explained.

"But I thought the Mu's ship doesn't show on the radar," said the old gentleman seated on her opposite side, wearing a green suit with long gray hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"I'll have Mr. Seki of the Energeia Psionic Research Center explain the details."

In the center of their circle, a hologram phased into view. It showed an older man wearing glasses. He was of average height, his hair was gray, and he was slightly overweight; he wore a blue button up shirt, brown slacks, and a white lab coat. The only facial hair he had was a thick mustache.

"I'm Seki of the Psionic Research Center," he introduced himself.

* * *

In the center of the city, an apartment building towered above its neighbors, sparkling in the darkness of the night. There was a parking garage at its base, standing three levels high. A mint green car had just parked in one of the last open spaces; the headlights faded, and the door opened—out stepped Seki, still clad in his lab coat.

High in the building was a happy apartment with a young boy and woman. The boy, green haired and bright-eyed, was lying on his stomach on the floor behind the couch, deeply focused on the picture book he held in his hands. The woman was in the nearby kitchen, washing dishes.

They both looked when the front door slid open. Seki stepped inside, bringing smiles to both their faces.

The boy jumped up from his space on the floor, "Welcome home, dad!" He ran toward his aged father, reaching up toward him. Seki grabbed him and lifted him into the air, spinning him around as though he was flying. The boy spread his arms, giggling happily.

"Hi there, Shiroe!" his father said gleefully. After holding his son up for a few seconds longer, he set him gently on the floor.

The woman stood in the kitchen beside them, smiling happily at her family. "This child, once he picks up a book, he won't put it down."

The boy still held his book in his hands, clutching it lovingly. "You know, Peter Pan comes to the homes of good children to pick them up," he explained to his father. He opened the book to the page he was on, holding it up for him so he could see the image of Peter leading the three children through the sky.

Seki knelt down to look at the book. "Peter Pan, huh? I also read that book a long time ago."

"Peter Pan flies through the sky and takes the kids to Neverland," he read, his voice overflowing with passion.

"Yeah," his father nodded.

Giggling, Shiroe closed the book and ran toward the couch, his arms spread as though he was flying. He jumped onto the couch, landing on his stomach. "I wanna go there too! Neverland."

"If you study hard, you could go to an even better place," Seki encouraged.

Shiroe had resumed reading his book. "Where's an even better place?"

"To Terra."

His wife sighed. "Darkling."

"This boy is brilliant," Seki insisted, going to sit at the table. "He could very well become one of the Members."

"You're being an obsessed parent. He's only ten years old." Despite her scolding, she was smiling.

They both looked to their son, who was immersed in his book—staring at an image of Peter with a sincere look of wonder in his eyes.

* * *

Jomy was still, suspended in the center of a dark empty room. The only light that illuminated his surroundings was his own blue aura, flowing from him like a gentle fire. He wore his new outfit, nearly identical to Soldier Blue's, but more yellow, with golden embroidery. Cascading outward from his shoulders was a vibrant, red cape. It was the same as Blue's own blue cape—and just as mesmerizing to look at. As Jomy had walked to his destination, it felt weightless, yet looking back he saw it flowing behind him as though there was a gentle wind blowing past him. Though it looked to be a heavy fabric, with was so light Jomy could barely feel it there.

Purple psion beams were flying past him, not quite hitting him but growing nearer. His concentration was deep, and his eyes were closed. Two beams flew toward his head, and he effortlessly moved his head to dodge them, sensing their location with his mind. With his concentration stable, he reached out with his gloved hand and began to block the psion beams with shields, eliminating them one by one.

And then suddenly, Jomy's light vanished. His eyes flew open with surprise, and he gasped. Having lost his concentration, he fell to the polished marble floor with a cry. The lights turned on, and the indigo-caped elders entered from a door to the side.

"Jomy Marcus Shin," said the teacher who stood at the back, behind the two women and Zel. "We'll stop today's training here."

The Weeping Mouse ran out from between their feet, and Jomy reached out for it. He began to pet it, finding comfort in its presence.

"Your power is enormous, but you're having trouble maintaining your concentration."

"I know," Jomy insisted. He'd been undergoing training beneath the elders, and though he had demonstrated an enormous and frightening power before, he was having trouble bringing it back out. What energy he did manage to produce, he had trouble controlling. It was honestly the most frustrated Jomy had ever been in his entire life. It was far worse than any exam he'd suffered through in school.

The gorgeous ebony-skinned elder spoke up, her eyes soft. "Now that the humans are aware of the Mu's existence, we don't know what's going to happen next."

"If only Soldier Blue was feeling well at a time like this…" the second woman said anxiously.

Her words struck Jomy like a knife through his heart. He froze.

Zel frowned. "You cannot become the next Soldier by power alone."

Instability was quickly building up within Jomy. His energy was once again demonstrating its sheer power—though he wasn't controlling it or unleashing it intentionally, a wave of energy released from within him, strong enough to pulse through the entire Shangri La. Machinery began to malfunction, and lights began to flicker. Many weaker Mus—particularly females—were stricken by the sudden energy pulse. With it went a loud ringing that hurt their ears, paralyzing them briefly as they held their heads and tried to cope.

The nurses in the infirmary who was watching over Leo felt it strongly, though Leo, who was lying on a bed, wasn't pained by it. He soaked in the energy Jomy had released and smiled gently, taking a deep breath.

After the outburst had settled, the ship returned to normal. Jomy stormed past the elders through the door, leaving them behind.

"Jomy!" Zel yelled after him. All four elders watched him go in surprise.

In the courtyard, Carina was playing with her friends happily. As they felt the pulse, Carina giggled. "Jomy's angry again."

No place on the Shangri La was spared from the energy that Jomy had involuntarily unleashed. In Physis' room, she was spending time with her lyre-playing companion at the top of the left staircase. He felt the energy, and looked back at Physis with a small smile. "Seems like something's happened again. Jomy's thoughts are too powerful. Everyone aboard the ship knows what he's thinking about."

Physis chuckled. "He's just awakened to his powers. I imagine he's having trouble controlling his emotions."

Jomy was walking through the halls in the aftermath of his outburst. Many of the Mu he passed stared at him with cold eyes. Though they _still_ believed Jomy couldn't hear their thoughts, Jomy could hear them as clear as day.

 _He's coming. It's Jomy._

The Mus he passed moved to let him through. Some were cold, and some were even somewhat hateful. They stared at him with frowns, not saying a word but thinking loudly.

 _What an attitude._

 _Soldier Blue is dying because of him._

 _But Soldier designated him to be his successor._

Hearing the mention of Soldier Blue sent Jomy's emotions into a whirlwind once again. Desperate to escape them, Jomy took off into a run down the hallway, leaving his Mu peers behind him. He made his way to his room deep within the ship, where he threw himself onto his bed.

"I know! It's my fault!" he yelled to no one. "If I hadn't done that…"

The memory of Soldier Blue sacrificing his power to show Jomy his memories flooded his mind. Blue had seemed to regain so much energy in that moment. The one time before that Jomy had seen Blue in person, he struggled to even stand and meet him, yet when Jomy flew to space in a panic, Blue had suddenly found the strength to chase after him, yet he was forced to waste all of that strength to calm Jomy. And that mistake was what had caused Blue's body to fail, leaving him trapped in his coma. If only Jomy had been able to control himself in the first place.

Jomy turned on his side, wallowing in despair.

The Weeping Mouse jumped up onto his bed beside him, somehow having gained entrance to his room. It began to lick his face lovingly. "What is it?" Jomy asked, looking at it. "Are you trying to comfort me?" He couldn't help but smile. He was growing attached to the tiny animal. He rolled over onto his back, and thought to himself, _"Feeling discouraged won't change anything, will it? Today, I'll go as far as my thoughts take me."_

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

In his mind, he could see the Shangri La. With a deep breath, he pushed himself away from it, and watched it fade quickly into the distance. He was high above the clouds, and pushed himself forward. Soon, he could see the circular mountain range surrounding Ataraxia. He passed through the ravine, and saw the beautiful city, sparkling like the nighttime sky. He went quickly toward the city, flying between buildings. No one saw the ghostlike image of Jomy passing by the windows of their homes silently, trailing blue light behind him as he flew. He flew peacefully, enjoying the view of his home city.

He came to a quick stop when he felt something nearby. Attracted to it, he landed soundlessly on the balcony of an apartment, near the top of a tall building. He gazed into the apartment through the pristinely-clean glass door.

" _That child!"_ he thought. Sitting against a kitchen island was a young boy with green hair, staring at pictures in a book lovingly. There was a woman laboring in the kitchen behind him.

But what caught Jomy's attention was the fact that the boy was surrounded by a soft yellow glow. A gentle energy was flowing off.

"So then I told him. That answer is wrong," the boy recounted to his mother.

"Really," she replied. "You're so clever, Shiroe."

Jomy stared at the boy, looking at his face, the book he held; it was a hardcover copy of the classic Peter Pan story.

Suddenly, the boy looked disturbed, and his yellow aura vanished. He looked right at the image of Jomy standing on his balcony. He could see the young man clearly, though Jomy was invisible to all others since it was only his mind that stood there.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, standing and holding his book to his chest. Jomy gasped.

"What's the matter, Shiroe?" his mother asked. The boy pointed to the balcony.

"Someone's there."

She looked. "No, nobody's there."

"Huh?" Shiroe ran toward the glass door, looking outside. He looked left and right, trying to see the image of Jomy that had been standing there just moments before. "He was just here…" Shiroe stared outside for a moment, trying to think of what he may saw. Then, his face lit up with excitement. "I know. It's Peter Pan!"

"Eh?"

He looked back to where Jomy had been standing. "I'm sure it was Peter Pan."

Jomy was floating high above the apartment, where Shiroe wasn't looking. He stared down at the boy in surprise. _"He was able to see me?"_

That night, Jomy's mind traveled to Shiroe's room as he slept. Jomy stood over the boy, aglow with the blue light of his energy. Shiroe slept peacefully; Jomy reached out, and placed his hand above his forehead. The boy didn't stir, completely unaware of the image that was watching over him.

Jomy concentrated, reaching into the boy's mind as gently as he could so as not to disturb him or cause him pain. Entering the subconscious of the boy, he could see the place where the boy felt safe. Shiroe was sitting happily at his kitchen island, watching his beloved mother work.

Once again, Shiroe turned and looked right at him. "Oh, who are you?"

But Jomy knew that this interaction was within the boy's subconscious, not the real world, so he simply smiled. It would just be like a dream. He wasn't concerned with the boy being seen talking to his image. "Who am I? Peter Pan, perhaps."

The boy gasped happily. "So you do exist!" he cried, turning around in his seat. He was blushing, and his smile was as wide as his face would allow. "I'm Seki Ray Shiroe. Nice to meet you!"

The excitement was so powerful, that Jomy couldn't help but feel wonderful about it. The awe in the boy's eyes was so pure. Jomy chuckled. "You're full of energy."

"I stay prepared so that I can go to Neverland anytime," he said. "Oh yeah, mom's making brownies, so let's eat them together." He gestured to the empty chair beside him, and Jomy gladly took it.

"Homemade by mom?" he asked.

"They're really delicious!"

"Really? Do you like your mom?"

"Very much!"

Jomy's smile faded. "But, when you become an adult, you will forget about your mom." The boy gasped, his own smile vanishing. "If you take the adult examination, your important memories will all be erased."

"That's not true," Shiroe argued. "I will never forget my mom! Why are you saying such mean things to me? I hate you!"

He boy's anger unleashed a powerful force that blew Jomy back. It wasn't anywhere near the power that Jomy held within himself, but it was enough to catch Jomy off guard. Jomy was pushed back, and his view of the boy and his apartment vanished.

His eyes flew open. He was lying on his bed on the Shangri La, having returned to the real world from his astral journey. "That child is…!"

* * *

In his bed, Shiroe was still in his deep sleep—but tears streamed down his face. "I'll never forget," he mumbled in his sleep. "I will never forget."

In the Psionic Research Center, Seki stood beside the woman with the orange cravat, overlooking a unique machine. It was generating a hologram wireframe sphere. Behind the hologram were massive screens, displaying images of a new model that was being produced. They looked like dandelion seeds, with a long shaft a three-bladed propeller on the top.

"Mr. Seki, how's the deployment of the Psion Tracers coming along?" she asked.

"We've got all the factories in Energeia working at full capacity," he reported. "But we have yet to reach the numbers requested."

"Terra's Number Five is telling us to commence operations right away," she urged. "Anyway, start by loading what is complete."

"Very well, Ms. Mayor," he said.

* * *

The unsettled Jomy had made his way to the Blue Room, and sat beside the bed.

It was uncomfortably silent. Every time Jomy had entered before, there had been an ambient ringing—a ringing that was loud, yet it wasn't painful. It was comforting. Jomy had finally realized that the ringing was coming from Blue, but now that ringing was silent. The air in the room was fresh and clear, as always, but _felt_ stagnant. Entering the room felt like going into a place where time had frozen, where it was silent and still.

Blue lie in his bed, tucked into his blankets. His face was serene, and he didn't look to be in any pain. His energy was so faint, Jomy could barely detect it.

He couldn't bring himself to look at Blue, so Jomy sat on the floor with his back to the bed. The Weeping Mouse slept at his feet, curled up tightly. Though Jomy didn't want to look at Blue for fear of his guilt overwhelming him again, he was talking to Blue as he slept. "He's still unstable…but that child has power," he explained, referring to Shiroe. "And should he eventually awaken as a Mu someday…Universal will get him, too. But as I am now, I can't help. I may have the power, but I have trouble controlling it. So I can't help!"

Jomy fell silent. He longed desperately to hear a reply from Blue, but none came. Blue didn't stir, and his energy stayed painfully weak. Jomy knew Blue was in too deep a sleep to hear him, or speak to him with telepathy. Despite this, it was comforting to talk to him, even if he was completely unresponsive.

Though it was a comfort to be near Blue, it still drove him mad that the room was so _silent._

* * *

Early in the morning, a V-formation of Universal bombers was soaring across the sky. They were dropping tall machines from their undersides; the machines that Dr. Seki and the woman mayor had been overseeing. The long machines floated through the air, spinning as the propellers eased their descent. They drifted down toward the sea of clouds, passing in and out of sight.

Despite the early hour, the Mu ship was very much awake. The children were playing in the courtyard as they always were. Jomy was seated on the central staircase, having sat in the Blue Room all night in silence. He had finally decided to leave, since his guilt and sadness were beginning to build up.

"Jomy!" came a tiny voice. Jomy looked up to see who had called. Carina was running toward him, flanked by a few of her friends. She was smiling, as always. She didn't have a care in the world. "Play with us, if you're not studying!"

A boy came up behind her. "Oh, play with me, too."

"What do you wanna play?"

"I'll choose today."

Jomy couldn't help but smile at them and their positive energy. "You're good kids." He stood, and they all stared up at him.

"Jomy?" Carina asked.

"Sorry, there's something I have to do," he replied. "We'll play some other time."

"What's the matter?"

"I found a Mu child just like you. I wanna save him, just like you all saved me." He walked through them, and they all watched him go.

Without announcing his departure, or asking the permission of the elders, Jomy phased through the exterior of the ship, and began to fly toward the distant Ataraxia. He was engulfed in his blue energy sphere as he flew, trailing through the clouds.

In the Psionic Research Lab, the doctor and mayor stood beside one another, overseeing their machine. The Psion Tracers were going online one by one. The wireframe sphere displayed in front of them was now partially covered by connected hexagons, showing the coverage of their Tracers across the planet.

"So we're only about twenty percent done in Tracer placements?" the woman mayor asked.

"Yes, but we've given priority to setting them up in gorges where Terra's Number Five suggests the Mu are more likely to be lurking," Dr. Seki explained.

"So you're saying we may even be able to locate the Mu before we've set up a network?"

A single Psion Tracer drifted past the side of the unsuspecting Shangri La.

In the city, Jomy passed unseen through the sky. He retraced his path from his astral journey the night before, the flew to the apartment where he had met the Mu boy. He landed smoothly on the balcony, looking into the apartment through the glass. Once again, Shiroe sat on the floor with his Peter Pan book.

Jomy phased through the glass, and went to stand beside Shiroe. He looked up at him and gasped. Jomy made sure to be smiling, to try and reestablish a good connection between them.

"Peter Pan?" Shiroe asked.

"Hi, Shiroe," he greeted warmly.

All of Shiroe's hostility seemed to be forgotten. He practically cheered. "It wasn't a dream!" He stood to look up at Jomy's face.

"Right. And I've come today to pick you up." He held out his hand. "Come with me!"

Fear overcame Shiroe, however, and he stumbled back away from Jomy. "No way. I'm not going. I can't go to Neverland." He shook his head. Jomy stared in surprise. "If I disappear, it'll make mom sad. So I've decided not to go."

Jomy gasped, and remembered his own mother clinging to him the night before his adult examination, crying as she held him and sobbed, _"There's no way I'm not gonna be lonely. What a silly question."_

Jomy empathized with Shiroe on a deep level, but still insisted. "Shiroe, this is not the time to be talking about that. If you stay here, bad guys will come and kill you."

"I'm not afraid of any bad guys," he cried. "My dad can make incredible weapons. He'll get rid of all the villains!"

The poor child had no idea that his father _was_ the villain.

"Shiroe…" Jomy said.

Back in the research center, alarms were blaring. The hologram of the planet was pulsing with light; a man's voice came through a speaker to announce to the onlooking doctor and mayor: "Psion Tracers 283 to 287 are detecting something. Attack satellite Torre has located the target."

Another female voice followed, "Type of ship confirmed. Verified as the Mu's mothership. Commencing attack."

The satellite in space ignited with yellow light as its lower point charged with energy. When it was concentrated enough, a massive yellow beam shot down at the planet, tearing through the atmosphere. It pierced the clouds, and the force of the beam blew them all away, revealing what was beneath.

The yellow beam maintained its output, but it was being diffused into bolts of electricity in every direction as it encountered a wide, green shield. Protected by the shield was the Shangri La.

The sound of the beam's impact echoed around for hundreds of miles. In Shiroe's apartment, Jomy span around to look out the window in shock. "What's that?" A bright light engulfed the horizon. Shiroe ran to the glass door, pressing his face against it and staring wide-eyed at the distant light. Slowly, the light faded.

Jomy was alarmed, and frowned. "That's…!"

He heard a deep voice reaching out to him, piercing the silence. _Jomy!_

"Harley?" he asked.

 _Where are you? The ship is under attack. Hurry back!_

"What?!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, the front door opened, and Shiroe's mother came inside. "I'm home Shiroe. Were you able to look after" –

She saw Jomy, and froze. She gasped with horror.

"Mom!" Shiroe exclaimed.

"Who are you?!" she demanded angrily.

"Oh no!" Jomy exclaimed to himself. A bright blue light engulfed him as he reached out, sending a powerful wave toward Shiroe's mother. The energy enveloped her, freezing her where she stood just as she broke into a run toward him.

"Mom!" Shiroe screamed. He looked at Jomy, enraged. "What did you do that for? How could you be so cruel to mom? I hate you!"

Jomy could feel an energy quickly building around the child.

" _Get outta here!"_

His voice echoed with power, and yellow light consumed him. A powerful force began to push on Jomy, blowing his cape back and nearly moving him. But Jomy held out his hand and released his own blue energy, evening out the force and regaining his balance. Their light clashed between them, creating a bright white light as the energy converged violently. Jomy could barely see Shiroe through the light, but he could feel his emotions spiraling out of control.

He tried calling out, "Shiroe! Calm down!"

Harley's urgent voice came back into his mind. _Jomy, what are you doing?_

He could hear Shiroe speaking, as well. "I told you to get outta here," he said. For a moment, Shiroe had a burst of power, and was able to take a step forward. To protect himself, Jomy unleashed more of his own power, and blew Shiroe to the side. Shiroe's light vanished as he crashed into the floor beside his frozen mother. Shiroe was shaky for a moment, but then stood again to face Jomy.

"I'm not going to Neverland!" he yelled. "I've been telling you, I'm not going! Why would you do something some cruel? I thought Peter Pan was supposed to side with the kids!"

Jomy could see Shiroe crumbling with sadness. He wasn't sure what to say.

Again, Harley tried to reach him. _Jomy, can't you hear me?!_

"Defense section!" Harley barked from the bridge of the Shangri La.

"The stealth is functioning normally," the section leader replied.

The dark-skinned elder demanded, "Then how have the humans figured out our position?"

"We'll look into the cause later! Withdraw from this airspace at full speed!" Harley ordered. "Integrate the thoughts of everyone in the defense section and channel the power to the Psion Shield."

In the distance, they could hear the thoughts of the defense section, crying out with pain.

"Everyone's agitated," Zel said. "We can't gather our thoughts to form a shield."

"Ruri! Report on enemy location!"

The long-haired girl with the pink bow replied, "Well…attacks are coming from an extreme height!"

They all looked up. Harley realized their situation. Sweat covered his face. "Satellite orbit weapons."

Up in space, the satellite had recharged, and a bright light shot from its point. A second beam tore through space. The entire ship shook violently. In her room, Physis stumbled with a cry and grabbed onto the table. Her companion rushed over, holding her. "Miss Physis, it's dangerous here," he urged.

"Jomy," Physis said.

On the bridge, an alarm promptly began to sound. An image of the ship was displayed on the screens hovering around the bridge's center. "Green area fourth sector destroyed!" someone reported with great panic. "Closing partitions five, seven, and eighteen!"

"We must gather our thoughts or we won't stand a chance!" Zel urged. "Harley!"

Suddenly, a massive presence spread across the Shangri La. A weak yet familiar energy blanketed everyone, and a quiet voice pierced their minds.

 _Calm down._

Everyone was stricken by the voice. It was Soldier Blue. He'd gathered the strength to speak to them.

 _It'll be all right. Jomy's coming._

"Jomy?" Harley asked. The energy cast out by Blue began to rescind.

"Come to think of it, where the hell is he?" Zel snapped.

Ruri reported, "Attack satellite energy increasing. Incoming attack!"

The yellow beam slit through the air, but this time was diffused several thousand feet higher, by a magnificent blue shield that was cast out above the Shangri La. The yellow electricity crackled out in every direction, flying through the clouds and pushing them away from the sheer force. This blue shield was stable, un-trembling—it was sure in its defense. It protected the ship with a power much greater than its own green shield.

When the electricity settled, Jomy could be see above the ship, hovering. He was engulfed in the blue light of his energy. An image of him was shown on the bridge's screens. "Sorry I'm late!" he called out to them.

Zel's eyes were wide with awe. "He deflected that beam on his own!" he cried.

"There are small machines floating in the clouds," Jomy said. "That's probably what's giving them our location."

Jomy gathered his energy, and began to throw it down into the clouds with all his might. Powerful blue psion beams ripped through the clouds, hitting the nearby Psion Tracers and utterly destroying them. Flames ate up into the air as the debris plummeted down toward whatever was beneath the cloud cover. Jomy could sense every one of them, and fired beams at them all in rapid succession. Pillars of fire-engulfed clouds rose up as the Tracers hidden beneath were destroyed all around the Shangri La.

"Operators!" Harley called. "Search for enemy radar sites! Attack section, shoot them down one by one!"

"Roger!" came the unified voices of his subordinates.

Harley took a breath, and smiled. "Jomy." Relief overwhelmed him.

Several of the hexagons on the wireframe planet display began to go dark.

"Psion Tracer network has gone down!" a scientist reported to Dr. Seki and the mayor. The screen displaying the image of the Shangri La shook, and then faded to static.

The mayor gasped, and Dr. Seki looked at her. "There's no need to worry. We just need to move other Tracers and we'll be able to detect the Mu in no time."

The mayor took a breath. "I see."

With the new Tracers in place, the satellite had regained its sights on the ship. Ruri sensed its power building, and announced to the bridge, "Another incoming attack!"

Again, the beam fell upon the Shangri La, only to be diffused by the massive blue shield cast out by Jomy. However, the maintained output of the weapon's attack began to strain Jomy, who trembled as he held the shield above him. He was slowly forced down toward the deck of the Shangri La. He gasped for air as the attack finally ended.

On the bridge, the girl with the large glasses was closely monitoring Jomy. "Three hundred counts to Jomy's psion shield limit."

"We cannot keep hiding like this," Harley urged. "Even Jomy has his limits. We must cooperate with him and go on the offensive! Emergency ascension!"

This time, Zel had no complaints. He nodded with a grunt, and looked to his personal screen. "Engine, maximum output! Maintain at full power!"

The engine of the Shangri La rumbled to life, and yellow light flooded out from the rear of the ship. It angled up and tore through the clouds up into the clear sky. It began to sail along the sea of clouds at a rapid speed.

"The Mu's mothership has risen above the clouds," the scientist reported. "We're getting an image from our reconnaissance aircraft." An image faded into view from the static, showing the Shangri La sailing above the clouds.

The woman added, "Altitude 3700. They're accelerating."

"At that height, a body that size cannot increase its speed much," Dr. Seki observed. He looked to the mayor with determination. "If we're gonna attack, now's the time."

"We'll serve justice now! Hurry!" the woman cried.

"Seventy percent of electric power from the solar power generator satellite being transferred to Torre. Microwave output 120 percent."

The satellite began to glow with gathering energy once again.

"High energy source detected from extreme height," the girl with glasses said. "Incoming attack!"

Kim was seated toward the rear of the bridge. "Position of satellite weapon confirmed! Psion Cannon ready to fire!"

"Psion Cannon… _fire!"_ Harley yelled.

On the deck of the ship, all of the veins of light were converging and a massive pool over crackling purple energy was gathering. Upon reaching its capacity, the energy shot upward in a massive purple beam. Right at that moment, the satellite fired its own yellow beam—the two beams of energy clashed high in the sky with a loud rumble, and began a test of power. All the Mu watched as their purple Psion beam began to tremble, and the yellow beam drew closer. Jomy, who stood on the ship's deck, gasped. The Psion Cannon failed, and the yellow beam shot toward the Shangri La. Again, Jomy raised his arms, and cast out his blue shield. His body trembled with strain, and his shield began to crack.

He called out desperately with his telepathy, _Harley, I can't do it. I can no longer hold my concentration._

The ship trembled terribly, and continued to sail forward. The beam slid across the shield as the ship passed further out of its reach. Once the ship was far enough ahead, the satellite's beam slid off the edge of the shield and fired down into the clouds, igniting a massive fire below that reached up into the clouds with a terrifying fury.

"Is Jomy safe?" Harley demanded.

"He's okay, but he's reached his limit!"

Again, the massive presence pulsed out over the ship as Blue drifted back into consciousness. _We'll warp._

Everyone was shocked by his order. "What did you say?!" Zel cried.

 _At this rate, it's only a matter of time before we're eliminated. Captain, this is our time to begin our journey!_

"But…we've never warped through a gravitational field before," Zel argued.

 _We have no other choice now. If the ship gets damaged any more…it will become impossible to fly out to space._

The emotions being sent out by Blue's were again overcome with desperation.

Harley closed his eyes, feeling the energy and desperation emanating from the Blue Room deep within the ship. This was Blue's dream…he'd come out of his coma to ask for it. They _couldn't_ deny him. "I understand. Let's go. Prepare the ship to exit the atmosphere! Pitch up!"

Blue faded away once again.

"Raising bow angle to 20 degrees, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25!"

The entire Shangri La was rotating upward, aiming toward the sky. Jomy clung to the outside of the ship fearfully, too weak to teleport inside. The wind was too strong to move; he was afraid he would be blown off the ship and plummet down into the clouds, where black smoke was still rising from the fires beneath. He heard the hissing of a port releasing nearby. An entrance to the ship opened, and the Mu doctor. He looked around until he saw Jomy. "Are you all right?! Hurry, come over here!"

"Doctor," Jomy struggled to say. He couldn't bring himself to move. His fear of being blown away was too strong. It was petrifying.

"Get a hold of yourself, you coward!" the doctor yelled. "And you call yourself a candidate to become the next Soldier?!"

"What?" Anger tore through Jomy, and his blue light reignited. It propelled him forward toward the doctor. In a rage, he grabbed the man's collar. "I'm not a coward!"

But the doctor smirked. "With that much energy left in you, you look like you're all right."

Jomy took a breath, and released the doctor. They both climbed back inside the ship, and closed the port. The ship was continuing to rotate, nearly vertical.

"Irradiation of microwave from satellite in 40, 39, 38, 37…!" the scientist was calling out.

"How is it?" the mayor asked.

"Almost there," Dr. Seki replied.

"Bow angle 87 degrees, hull is stable," the man called to Harley.

"All engine output normal…activating warp drive," Zel announced.

A massive whirring noise filled the ship.

"Transfer coordinates input confirmed!"

Harley listened to the whirring for a long moment, before yelling out to his bridge, "Shangri La, _launch!"_

Purple beams shot out from the bridge, and all of the veins of light on the exterior of the ship ignited. They all converged at the bow of the ship. Several thousand feet above them, a massive swirling gate opened, sending massive bolts of electricity down. The ship distorted, stretching out as it was sucked into the swirling gate at the speed of light. The green gate sent out a force so powerful upon the ship's entrance, it pushed the clouds away thousands of miles in every direction, revealing the barren, brown rock that lie beneath. A massive hole opened in the clouds covering the planet, visible from light years away. A beam of green light shot into space, quickly disappearing from sight.

Dr. Seki stared at the screen in awe. "They warped from within the planet's atmosphere."

Both he and the mayor stared at the satellite image of the planet's surface, showing the massive opening in the clouds where the ship had warped out.

"So they've left this planet for now, Mr. Seki?" the mayor inquired.

"Yes, probably," he agreed.

"That was troublesome…" she sighed.

* * *

Deep within the city of Ataraxia, things had finally calmed. The sun had set, and the beams of light had stopped falling beyond the mountains. The citizens—previously alarmed—were finally settling down into their homes for the night. Everyone was breathing sighs of relief, thankful that for a second time, their magnificent city was spared from whatever terror was raging beyond their protective mountains.

Shiroe sat in his mother's lap, fast asleep. Their apartment was dark, and very calm. She held him tightly, and he held his Peter Pan book in his arms, smiling.

Many lightyears away in space, the Shangri La was drifting away from the planet, finally free of their attackers.

Jomy again sat in the Blue Room, with his back to the bed. He was overwhelmed with emotion, and had fled to the Blue Room to be near Blue once again. Though Blue had faded away from his bursts of life just hours before, Jomy was still comforted by just being near him.

"Ultimately, I was unable to bring Shiroe with me in that situation," he told Blue. His fingers trembled. "It took all my effort to erase the memories of me from him and his mother… I really am powerless." He hugged his knees tightly.

Suddenly, a warmth washed over him. A quiet ringing filled the room. Jomy's breathing caught, and a powerful chill flew across his body.

"In order to create a path, you must first believe in yourself," came a quiet, weak voice from the bed above Jomy. "You will not know whether you've done good or bad until everything is over."

Jomy couldn't bring himself to look at Blue and see him awake. Seeing him awake, would mean he would have to watch his body fail once again. Unsure if he could bear to see that, Jomy just nodded, and didn't move from where he was. Somehow, Blue was continuing to find the strength to reach out to Jomy in his times of need, no matter how weak or close to death he was.

" _We set out on our journey while being pursued…"_ Jomy thought to himself, _"…without the skills to fight…"_

" _The journey to Terra is a long one."_

He felt the warmth in the room fade, and felt his heart break—just a little.


	6. Section 6- Station E-1077

SECTION 6- STATION E-1077

Faint memories were drifting in and out. Memories of being submerged in a thick green liquid, with bubbles slowly working their way up toward the surface. The memory of looking through thick glass, and seeing a man on the other side. The man reached out and knocked on the glass, gazing in through his small, round glasses. He wore a gray lab coat, and held a tablet in one hand. Within the liquid, a hand rose up, trailing bubbles behind it as it moved.

Though the memories were lingering, a feeling of comfort drifted over the room.

Something touched his face, and he opened his eyes.

He heard a deep, womanly voice speaking to him. "Are you awake, Keith?"

Keith's eyes widened, and he quickly sat upright. He looked around, unsure of his surroundings. It was a large room with walls and a floor of polished marble. He was lying on a bed near the wall, one of the only two furnishings within the room that he could see. The other was a tall statue atop a column, standing beside the bed; it was a carving of a woman with hair as long as she was tall. She wore a long, flowing dress. Her eyes were closed, and she had flowers in her hair.

There was a woman sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling at him. She had an undeniable resemblance to the statue. Her skin was pale white, and perfectly flawless. Her lips were tiny and had a tint of purple. She wore a long, flowing black gown, and her ebony hair was so long, it gathered on the floor. She had large earrings, and a vertical halo around her head. Her eyes were a dark shade of green. She seemed to glow in the room's light, and she was translucent. Keith couldn't tell if he was just hazy, or if she was some kind of hologram.

"Wh-where am I?" Keith asked.

"E-1077 Education Station," she replied.

"Education Station?"

"Yes. I am Mother Eliza, the administrative computer," she explained. "This is my medical counseling room.

"Counseling room?" Keith was in a daze, and was simply repeating her words back to her.

"You collapsed immediately upon arriving at the space port. Don't you remember?"

Keith averted his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Mother Eliza reached out and fixed Keith's black hair before cupping his face with her hand. She looked into his pale blue eyes, and he could feel a warmth coming from her. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine now," he assured her.

"Is that so? Now, all the other new students are gathered at the hall. As a new student, you shall also receive guidance." She lowered her hand.

"I understand." Keith stood from the bed, and began to walk toward the door. As he neared, it slid open to allow him entry. Before stepping through, he turned back to look at Mother Eliza—however, she, and the bed, were both gone. It was as though they had never even been there. All that remained in the empty room was the statue.

 _Mother Eliza…_ he thought to himself.

* * *

A marimba jingle chimed through the needle-shaped space station.

"We will now begin guidance for new students," a woman announced over a speaker. "All new students, please gather at the center hall."

In a massive cylindrical room with four doors, a mass of young students was gathering in the center. They all wore the uniforms of the station: a dark gray coat and black slacks for the men, and a dark red dress equivalent with tights for the women. Already within the crowd, some cliques were forming as people were naturally attracted to one another.

However, one tall boy stood alone. He had short brown hair, thick eyebrows, and long sideburns. His face was covered in freckles. He thought to himself, _I don't know anybody here. This is so nerve-racking._

He looked around, and his eyes settled on a young man in the distance. He was tall, with black hair and pale blue eyes. He was walking through the crowd without acknowledging a single person he passed. He had an emotionless face, yet the brown-haired boy was still intrigued by him. It was Keith. The brown-haired boy watched him as he walked.

 _I thought it would be the same for all of us_ … he thought. _But there are some guys who look so calm._

Suddenly, all the lights in the room turned off. Everyone looked up as a massive hologram appeared above them, showing what appeared to be a coat of arms; it was a shield-like shape, with an image of the space station in its center, with a large 'E1077' near the bottom. A male voice began to speak over the speaker. "New students. Congratulations on your admission. Education Station E-1077 welcomes you. You have successfully passed the adult examination and have taken your first step toward becoming an adult. I'm sure you may be feeling anxious about leaving your parents. But you are not alone by any means."

The hologram of the coat of arms vanished, and was replaced by an image of the space station itself: a large disc at the top, a smaller disc beneath it, and a long needle extending down.

The image of the space station disappeared, and revealed a new image of a beautiful blue planet. All the students began to smile and make sounds of awe.

"Terra!" one boy called out.

"It's beautiful," another girl said, staring at the glowing planet with a twinkle in her eyes. Nearby, Keith was staring at the image with a cold face, unmoved by the scene.

The hologram changed to show images of 22nd century human civilization on Terra.

"Christian Era," the man over the speaker said. The image showed rockets launching from the planet, as well as glass skyscrapers reaching high into the blue sky. "A period when human civilization reached its climax. Terra was left in ruins, and environmental pollution made it a planet that could no longer sustain life." The image began to pan down, and while the tops of the skyscrapers were beautiful and pristine, the farther down it went, the more it was ruined. The buildings were destroyed, leaving only behind empty shells of beams and supports.

The image showed a skeleton buried in the sand. "In order to save mother planet Terra, humans commenced a special governmental system called Superior Domination, or the SD System." The image changed, and showed human leaders meeting with one another to discuss their future, and then showed hundreds of spaceships launching from Terra into space. "Under this system, a bold decision was made for all of humanity to evacuate Terra. In this way, humankind lost their home planet, Terra."

The hologram returned to the original image of the singular planet. "Terra is now under the management of the Earth Revival Organization, 'Reborn,' as it waits to someday be resurrected. In order to return to Terra one day, and to ensure that we don't make the same mistakes, we have decided to make changes to ourselves. The result is the birth of New Generation Babies…advanced hybrids of selected sperm and ovum."

All the students were listening enthusiastically. The girls stared at an image of a growing baby with bright eyes. "Babies!" one girl said.

The screen showed a husband and wife with their daughter, living a happy life. "Parents that pass a strict selection process are assigned to ensure the healthy growth of the children and families with no blood relations are formed."

One girl held her heart, her emotions stirred by the image of happy parents. "Father…Mother!"

Another boy recalled his father. A girl on the other side of the room thought of her mother.

"All of you, brought up in this way, are equally Terra's children. Now, you will work hand in hand! You will become partners working as one to recreate Terra!" The lights turned back on, and the screen faded out.

With the presentation having reached its end, the students—all feeling encouraged by the lesson about their magnificent system—reached out to one another. Everyone shook hands with those around them, offering smiles and warm greetings. The previously-formed cliques began to disperse as everyone accepted all their peers.

Even the brown-haired boy was reassured. _I see…we're all partners._ He looked to the side, and saw that Keith was still standing alone, continuing to ignore those around him. He was staring at the space where the screen had been, and no one bothered to reach out and shake his hand. The brown-haired boy took a breath, and started walking toward him confidently. "Alright."

Before Keith had even turned to look at him, the boy reached out to shake his hand. "I'm Sam Houston. Nice to meet you."

"I get it," Keith said, apparently to himself. "They're making us yearn for Terra and acknowledge the responsibilities we are being given." His voice was cold.

"Eh?"

Keith looked at Sam, finally seeming to notice him. He gave a small smile. "I'm Keith Anyan." He reached out, and Sam took his hand.

* * *

Within the depths of the station, a lecture was in session.

"Based on the hypothesis you've given us, that is the conclusion I've come to," Keith said.

"Very good, Keith Anyan. That's a perfect answer," the professor said admiringly. "Okay, we'll move on to our next section. Based on our theory, you will need to consider things in relative terms…"

Keith sat back down, closing his eyes. Sam, who was seated beside him, leaned over with a smile. "Nice one, Keith," he whispered. "You made an impression on the professor." The entire lecture hall was staring at Keith in awe of his skill. One girl who sat behind them was staring wide-eyed, covering part of her face with her tablet.

Keith looked at Sam, but didn't reply.

After class, Sam charged out of the lecture hall. Catching sight of Keith on the nearby escalator, Sam ran over and jumped down the stairs to catch up. "Hey, Keith! Keith! Let's have lunch together," he said.

"That's fine with me."

"Great!" he exclaimed.

In the cafeteria, the two young men sat in the very corner near the massive window. The view of space was amazing—the stars were beautiful, sparkling for as far as the eye could see. They were calming.

Sam was stuffing his face with meatloaf, making sounds of content. Keith, who had already finished eating his small lunch, was sipping tea quietly.

"What are you looking for, Sam?" Keith asked. Sam seemed to be taken by surprise, pausing his eating to look at Keith in confusion. "You look at crowds from time to time."

"Ah, yeah," he agreed. "Just wondering if my friend might be here."

"Friend?"

"Yeah. A guy I knew back in Ataraxia. My memories of the past have become vague since the adult examination. But I do remember a lot about him." Sam could recall a hazy memory of standing outside his high school with his blond-haired friend, having just given him his Dreamworld pass as a birthday present. "We talked in the past about how it would be nice if we could meet again as adults."

Keith stared in silence.

"His name's Jomy," Sam said smiling. "He's got a unique personality. I remember, he'd get in trouble every day and be called to the counseling room. "He took the adult examination before me… so I thought maybe he'd be here. I'm sure you also think about the friends you had before coming here."

Keith closed his eyes, and set his teacup down on his tray. "I don't remember. I don't remember a thing before my adult examination."

"You don't?" Sam asked. He seemed to be sad.

"Are friends that important?"

"Ah, well… I wonder…"

High above them, a camera listened closely to their conversation.

* * *

A spaceship was nearing the top of the station, where there was a docking bay. From the edge of the station's lower ring—which was completely glass, offering a view of the entire station—Sam and Keith were watching the ship's arrival.

"Wow!" Sam cried. "That's a big ship!"

"It's probably the new battleship of the Human Allied Forces," Keith said, significantly less interested in the ship than Sam was.

"Wow…that is so cool." Sam was practically amazed by the ship and its magnificent size and appearance. "I'd love to be able to board a ship like that. Well, it all depends on the results of our allocation tests." He turned to look at Keith. "What do you wanna do?"

"Members," Keith replied. Sam stared in surprise at his answer.

Suddenly, someone was clapping. The two looked over, and saw a group of older students riding the descending escalator. They wore different uniforms; they wore light gray vests rather than dark gray coats. One young man stood at the front; he was the one who had clapped. "So the genius who set new records on all his new student preliminary tests thinks big." He had thin eyes and wore glasses. His hair was blond, and his hairline was already starting to recede slightly.

Keith turned to face him as he approached. "I'm Glave Murdoch."

Sam was staring with his mouth hanging open. He thought to himself, _Wow! He's the advanced student said to be the closest to joining Members._

Keith replied, "I just tried my best. I'm not interested in any records."

"Oh? Such bold comments. Now I like you even more," he said with a crooked smile. He glanced at Sam. "Chosen ones like you should associate yourself with people of the same level. There's no benefit in hanging out with those at a lower level."

"Eh?" Sam asked.

"Why don't we discuss this together at length?" Glave asked.

"I'll decide who I want to hang out with," Keith said bluntly. It wasn't meant as an insult, nor had he said it viciously. However, Glave's friends were still shocked by his reply. "Regarding levels, I'd think twice about categorizing others based on a meaningless hierarchy."

For a moment, Glave's eyes were wide. "I see. I'm speechless."

Keith looked to Sam. "Let's go." He started walking, and Sam jogged to catch up.

"W-wait…Keith!"

They left Glave and his friends behind.

* * *

Another spaceship was approaching the space station, this time a transport ship. Inside were more new students on their way to Station E-1077 to begin their adult life. Near the back, a girl sat in the corner, staring out the window into space. All the students on the ship were already wearing their new uniforms. She wore the standard dark red dress with tights. She had long, curly blond hair that was pulled back into a pink bow.

She fidgeted, and thought, _I passed the adult examination. But what's gonna happen now? Does everyone feel as uneasy as I do?_ She looked at the screen on the seat in front of her, which was showing the space station they were approaching.

The ship began to enter the dock, and from within the station, control was monitoring its arrival. "This is E-1077 control," an employee reported. "A transport ship is approaching deck B-03 to drop off new students. The departing battleship is to remain at bay and standby."

"Damn," another employee said with a sigh. "Why did that ship depart without proper authorization?"

"I dunno," the first man replied. "We never receive any information concerning the army. I guess they think they don't need us once they're done refueling." Suddenly, a warning alarm began to sound. Both men looked at their screens in surprise. "Wha?"

They saw that the battleship had ignored their order, and was beginning to depart. Their monitors projected that the two ships were going to collide.

"This is E-1077 control!" the man said. "The departing battleship is to remain at bay and standby!"

"What's the army thinking?" the other man beside him cried. "The controller has the authority here!" He activated his headset. "Transport ship San Diego, a large battleship is departing through the central launch gate! Can you wait?"

A man's voice came through his headset. "This is San Diego. We're in inertial flight on course to enter port. We request to stay on course if possible."

The San Diego was quickly approaching the battleship, which showed no signs of slowing or altering its own course. With the way things looked, it was inevitable they would crash.

* * *

A simulation aboard the station has just ended. The advanced students, who were wearing spacesuits, removed their helmets as the lights turned back on.

"Way to go, Glave," one said. "Those were perfect directions." The door opened, and Glave's team emerged from the training area with their helmets in hand. "Thanks to you, our group has the best score by far." The group approached their lockers and began to remove their suits. Glave chuckled, his ego bloated from his friend's compliments.

They looked as the door open, and the next group stepped inside. Leading the group was Keith, and Sam followed behind him.

"Hi, Keith," Glave greeted. "Are you guys off to zero gravity training?"

"That's right," Keith agreed. They opened their lockers and began to prepare.

"The little chicks are out for a walk, are they?" one of Glave's friends teased. "Don't get lost in space."

"What?" Sam demanded angrily.

"Mike, stop it," Glave said. Mike fell silent.

Keith held his arm up to silence Sam, as well. "I'll take that to heart," he said with a smile. The other group began to walk by, laughing.

Suddenly, the station trembled. People cried out in surprise as the lights turned off from a power outage. "What was that?" someone yelled. A girl was screaming with fear.

"What just happened?" Sam asked.

"Don't move!" Glave called out. "It's dangerous to move too soon. The emergency lights will turn on shortly. Glave felt his way over to a terminal, where he played with some controls. Deep red lights turned on above them, lighting the room well enough to see where they were. Glave opened up a channel and began to speak through, "Control, this is the AR-07 decompression holding room. I felt an impact earlier and moments later the main power went out. What's going on? Please report the situation."

Keith jogged over and began typing on the keypad beside Glave.

"Control room," Glave aid again.

"Gas level of carbon dioxide for backup power, normal," Keith said, analyzing the area.

"The communication link has been severed somehow," Glave observed. The other students stood in silence near the lockers, watching the two work together at the terminal. Glave was cycling through camera views of the station's exterior. Finally, he stopped on a view that showed what he was seeking. "That's it." The view showed that the transport ship the San Diego had crashed into the side of the station to avoid the battleship.

Debris from the impact was floating around the ship, which had shut down after its collision with the wall of the station. The inside of the ship was dark aside from the dark red emergency lights.

"I'm scared! Help me!" a girl cried from somewhere farther ahead from where the blond girl was sitting. A crew member of the ship was floating down the center of the aisle, wearing a space suit with a helmet tucked under his arm.

"Calm down! It'll be all right. A rescue team will come from the station," he explained. "Everyone put on a spacesuit for your safety!"

At the back, the blond girl sat very still, her fingers interlocked with each other. "Why is this happening?" she asked. She looked out the window at the debris floating past.

"That's the ship carrying the new students," one of Glave's friends said.

"That ship class is fitted with earlier model anti-matter engines," Mike said, his brow furrowing. "There's a possibility that anti-matter could leak."

"What do you mean?" a girl behind him asked.

He turned to look at her. "If the engine is damaged, it disables the safety system on these older models."

Glave's other friend stared at the screen worriedly. "It could cause complete destruction, and the entire station would…"

Glave turned to face the other students. "Don't worry, everyone. The safety system on E-1077 is flawless. If Mother determines there is a danger, she will purge the sections damaged by the accident."

"What happens to those aboard the transport ship?" Keith asked.

Glave walked past him. "Mother Eliza has already given orders to send a rescue team."

Keith turned away from him, thinking, _Ten minutes have passed since the accident, but there is no record of a rescue team being dispatched._

"We just need to do as the system instructs us," Glave said. "Our safety is guaranteed. We will move to the training management room OR-301. What will you lower level students do?" The two groups separated from each other, and Glave turned to look at Keith.

"The B-03 launch gate…that's near," Keith mumbled.

"What are you planning to do?" Sam asked.

"Little chicks will be safer following the hen," Glave said. Sam grunted at him as Glave led his friends out. Keith began to inspect the terminal once again. He reached out and placed his finger on the screen, tracing a ling.

"We'll go through the emergency hatch and follow the outer wall to get there."

"That's dangerous, Keith," the girl urged.

"We haven't received proper training," another group member said. "We should at least wait until the link to Mother Eliza has been recovered."

"We'll run out of time if we wait," Keith said. He went to the locker and began to put on his space suit. Beside him, Sam began to do the same. "Sam?"

"I'm pretty good at work on the outside of the ship," Sam explained. "Eat lots, and work lots. That's my motto." They put on their helmets, and Keith went to the door. Sam turned at looked at the remainder of their group. "You guys go to OR-301 and give us a report on the situation." Keith opened the door, and the two began to leave. "We don't want this whole section to be purged, do we?"

The emergency hatch slid open, and the sunlight poured in. Keith and Sam pushed off into space, maneuvering and landing on the station's side. Carefully, they began to move along the exterior wall, holding onto a railing. After a while of gliding along, they reached a hatch. Keith pulled it open, and a warning announcement could be heard inside. _"Warning! Warning! Trouble detected in area B-03."_ Keith and Sam pulled themselves inside, turning on the lights installed in their helmets so they could see ahead of them. _"Emergency evacuation program P-109 has been activated."_

They pushed themselves through the dimly lit halls, holding onto the walls for stability.

" _Now at level three,"_ the warning confirmed. _"The affected areas have been closed off. Please evacuate immediately according to the manual."_

"Not here, either," Sam said, looking at the sealed door in front of them.

" _If there is no improvement, Program P-109 will rise to level four."_

"There's no choice," Keith said. "We'll cut the lock."

" _I repeat. Trouble detected in area B-03."_

Keith pushed himself down toward the base of the door. Sam was hesitant to help. "Keith! You sure it's all right for us to do that?" Sam pushed down to land beside Keith on the floor.

"We've gotta hurry or we won't be able to save those we can still rescue," Keith said. "Help me, Sam."

"Huh? Ah, yeah…" The two began to work on unsealing the door.

" _If there is no improvement in the situation, Program P-109 will be raised to level four."_ The warning droned on. It was getting annoying.

Finally, the door slid open. Beyond the doorway, it was dark. They could see the damaged ship, surrounded by suspended debris. Sam gasped at the sight.

"Secure your lifeline," Keith ordered. "Let's go!" Sam and Keith both yanked on the metal cords attacked to their suits, and hooked the end clips to the doorway. Once they were secured, they pushed off into space toward the wrecked ship. They glided carefully along the wall, using boosts of speed from their packs to move along.

Aboard the transport ship, all the students were waiting patiently, wearing their spacesuits. The ship was still dark, and everyone was quiet with anxiety. Then, one of the girls caught sight of the two men outside the ship, and pointed to her window. "The rescue party! We're safe!" All of the students began to cry with joy, while the crew member went to the hatch to look out for the rescue party the girl had seen.

Keith and Sam approached the ship, again using tiny boosts of speed. Keith saw the hatch, and pointed to it. Sam nodded, and they both accelerated toward it. They held out their arms to buffer their impact. Sam went to the glass where the crew member was waiting, while Keith began to mess with the controls beside the door. Sam motioned for the crew member to back away, and he pushed off the door back into the ship, allowing Keith to remove the hatch. The door was sucked off the ship, propelling out and sailing through space until it crashed into the side of the station.

Keith pulled himself through the door first, securing a second lifeline to the handle in the hatch doorway. Sam followed and did the same. The two landed on the floor in front of the crew member. "What's the condition of the ship?" Keith asked.

"Are you students?"

"Yes. We've come to rescue you," Keith replied. "The link to Mother Eliza has been severed, and the station's management section is not functioning. We have to hurry or we won't make it in time." Sam turned and boosted himself toward the students. He grabbed the doorway and re-anchored himself.

"Is everyone safe?" he called. "Follow our orders and leave the ship, one at a time!" The students all rose from their seats, and in an orderly fashion began to proceed down the aisle through the doorway. When the last student approached, Sam reached out for her and led her through.

"Sam?" she asked, looking into his helmet.

"Eh?" he asked. He stared at her for a moment. "Suena!"

She lost control of her speed, and crashed into Keith who was waiting by the door. He grabbed her and held her for a moment, stabilizing her. She stared into his helmet with wide eyes, looking closely at his face.

"Hurry. We have no time," Keith said. She reached out and took hold of Sam's first lifeline, and began to pull herself along back toward the station. Once she had a good head start, Sam and Keith released the second lifelines and began to pull themselves back in.

As they neared the station, they could hear the warning droning on once again. _"Emergency evacuation program P-109 has escalated to level four. This area will be purged shortly."_ The students who had already arrived in the emergency hatch were reaching out for those still traveling on the lifelines, pulling them through and into the station.

" _Purge will commence in fifty seconds."_ The area began to shake.

"What? What do you mean purge?" a student cried, being pulled inside the hatch by the crew member.

"Calm down. It's all right. We still have time," he reassured him. Keith and Sam passed through the hatch and quickly detached their lifelines. Everyone pushed themselves up toward the hallways.

" _This area will be purged shortly. Purge will commence in forty seconds."_

Sam and Keith lead the students through the ruined part of the station, reemerging back through the hatch leading to the exterior of the station. Sam poked his head out and looked around. "Whoa! We're dead if we fall from here." In a line, the students pulled themselves along the railing, headed back the way Sam and Keith had come from. Keith emerged from the hatch last, reaching out to grab the railing.

Across the area, latches released and floated off into space, opening a seam in the station exterior. Keith looked at them in shock. "A purge?"

"That's crazy! Keith! Hurry!" Sam yelled.

"Calm down, Sam. We still have time."

Massive locks began to eject from the station's side. Sam watched them fly out into space. "B-03 is being cut off." The seam that was held together by the locks began to open as an entire section of the station began to separate.

"I'll join you as soon as the severing has stabilized," Keith called. As the section began to emerge from the rest of the station, Keith held on to the railing tightly. The section had accelerators on the inside that it used to propel itself away from the station. After a boost, Keith lost his grip on the handle and floated down over the edge, holding on with only one hand. His back crashed against the wall, and part of his suit broke. Losing his grip completely, Keith was thrown out into open space as the section moved away. He was spinning out of control. He tried to use his suit controls to stabilize himself, but they were vailing.

 _The vernier's been damaged,_ he thought. He stared wide-eyed as the reflection of the distant planet repeatedly passed across his helmet.

Sam was holding onto the railing from a stable part of the station. "Keith!" he yelled, before pushing off into space toward Keith. They crashed into each other, and Sam grabbed on. "Are you all right, Keith?"

"Sam!" Keith said. They had stopped spinning after Sam's impact.

"Let's go back. Don't let go of me," Sam instructed before using several boosts to accelerate the two of them back toward the station. In the distance, the section that had been purged was disappearing into space, using rockets covering is side to push itself.

Then, when it was plenty far away, a massive crash rang through space. Moments later, an explosion vaporized the purged section, lighting up the distant station like a giant firework.

* * *

The transparent hologram of Mother Eliza stood proudly in front of her statue, within her marble room. She smiled. "Keith Anyan. You handled the latest situation very well. Thanks to you, we were able to keep damage to a minimum."

Keith stood at attention before her. "Yes."

"I have high expectations for you," she said.

"Thank you very much."

After his meeting with Mother Eliza, Keith was riding the escalator. Gathered near the top were some fellow students, including Sam.

"Keith was called out to see Mother Eliza?" a male student asked Sam. "Let's hope he's not being scolded." He caught sight of Keith approaching, and pointed at him. Sam turned around.

"Keith, is everything all right?" Sam called, jogging over to his friend.

"Yeah, she said she has high expectations for me," he replied. Keith began to walk, and Sam walked beside him.

"Way to go, Keith. Praise from mother? Hold on, why wasn't I called to see her?"

"Sam," Keith said, slowing to a stop.

"Eh?"

Keith reached out and placed his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Thanks for coming with me. I couldn't have done it without you."

Sam chuckled, and scratched his head with embarrassment of Keith's sudden sentiment. It was unlike him. "Like I said, eat lots and work lots. That's all."

Nearby, Glave was sitting in a chair surrounded by his friends, glaring angrily at Keith who had outshined him. _Hm. The chicks and their little game of friendship,_ he thought.

Suena came toward them from the side. "Sam!"

Sam looked at her and smiled happily. "Suena!"

She reached out and embraced him. "Thank you. That was a narrow escape."

"I'm glad you're okay." He reached out to grab Keith's shoulder. "Oh, Keith, let me introduce you to Suena. This is Keith."

Keith offered her a smile, and she blushed profoundly. "Thank you for saving me. I'm Suena Dalton." They shook hands.

"I'm Keith Anyan."

A camera was focused on Keith. Mother Eliza's distant voice could be heard.

"Keith Anyan has passed stage one."


	7. Section 7- Rebellious Shiroe

SECTION 7- REBELLIOUS SHIROE

"Don't be stupid! Wait! Shiroe!"

The second boy reached out to try and grab the one walking in front of him. Once he had a good grip, he pulled him back. However, the young green-haired boy just smirked at him.

"I'm the group leader!" the black-haired boy scolded. "You always act on your own. We're graded on our teamwork, you know!"

Shiroe chuckled. "It's the same no matter who does it. So, it should be done by the ones who are most skilled."

"What?" he exclaimed, quickly getting fed up with Shiroe's arrogance.

"Put yourself in my position, being grouped with you guys," he said, swatting away his leader's hand. "I don't want you holding me back."

"What did you say?" the leader readied himself to punch Shiroe, but someone grabbed his fist from behind.

Towering above him was a handsome young man, an advanced student—he wore the light gray vest, and had a gold headband around his forehead. His hair was smooth and black, his eyes pale. He held the boy's fist with no effort. With a cold, emotionless face, he looked down at the boy who stood a whole head shorter than him.

"What's with the commotion?" he asked. Behind him stood another advanced student, with brown hair and prominent sideburns. "New students? Who's your instructor?"

Shiroe grit his teeth at the older student.

"Hey, hey. Don't tease 'em too much, Keith," the second advanced student said with a chuckle. He looked to the younger students. "It's good that you guys are full of energy, but if you wanna get some exercise, go the training room!"

"O-okay, I'm sorry!" one of the students said.

Shiroe stared at Keith's face with a deep frown. _Keith?_

Keith noticed he was staring, and met his gaze. Sam pat his shoulder, saying, "Let's go!" Sam continued down the hallway, and Keith followed him. As he passed, Shiroe watched him closely.

"You were saved by Keith, weren't you, Shiroe?" the leader asked quietly as they all watched the two older students depart.

 _Keith Anyan,_ Shiroe thought angrily. _The brightest student on record in the history of Educational Station E-1077._ He glared. _Mother Eliza's baby._

* * *

 _Educational Station E-1077. The purpose of this ultimate academic center is to provide education to the elite that will later serve to maintain the SD system, the humanity integration system designed to unify humans. The place where people yearn to come. However, for me…_

Shiroe took a breath.

Sam was sitting backwards in a chair near the balcony, overlooking the lower level.

"What are you doing, Sam?" Suena asked, walking up to stand beside him. She had finally outgrown her love for her hair bow, and let her hair fall freely in curls behind her shoulders.

"Suena." He looked down over the balcony edge once again. Standing on the lower level was a small group of students being addressed by a professor. "Check it out."

"They're new students," Suena observed.

"They're so young," Sam said. "You know, restless, lightheaded, and undependable. Were we like that four years ago?"

Suena looked at Sam with a smile. "I know one person who's still restless like that."

"Eh?"

"What do you expect? They just turned fourteen and left their parents after passing their adult examination. It's a time when they'll be feeling anxious and uneasy."

"Maybe we _were_ like that, too," Sam agreed. "Although _you_ were calm and cool right from the beginning, weren't you, Keith?" He looked to Keith, who was standing a few feet to the side of them. He was looking down at the new students, but wasn't particularly interested.

"It's like that every year," he replied. "But over time, we realize how safe a place this is. So, this place is easy to get used to."

A fourth voice interrupted their conversation, "Is that a good thing?" They all looked to see had spoken.

It was Shiroe, standing there with his back straight and head held high.

"You're that kid from earlier," Sam said.

"Personally, I find you people and the people of this station to be a lot stranger than those guys."

"Strange?" Suena asked.

"You're observed, told what to say, and tamed like a pet." Shiroe turned and looked down to the lover level, glancing over all the students he saw. "What's more, you don't raise any doubts about it. How many of those people would be able to escape Mother Eliza's finesse of love? Within half a year, they'll probably all be converted to sheep of the Mother Farm."

"You should watch what you say," Suena said worriedly. "If you keep this up…"

Shiroe smirked at her. "I'll be called out by Mother Eliza?"

Sam and Suena were surprised by how easily Shiroe dismissed the computer that led the entire station. Keith, however, was unfazed by Shiroe's enormous ego, and retained his emotionless face. "You're a new student, right? Shouldn't you be attending a lecture?"

"I already have an intensive lecture credit," he bragged.

"You're lying!" Sam exclaimed. "The space dynamics credit isn't something you can get so easily!"

"Was it that difficult for you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sam clenched his fists with anger.

"Excuse me for what happened earlier, Keith," Shiroe said, now looking past Sam and Suena directly at Keith, who stood behind them.

"Hey, don't ignore me!"

Shiroe ignored him anyway. "I've heard many rumors about you. I hear you're very intelligent. You're the baby of Mother Eliza, born of a machine."

Sam kept trying to interrupt, "What was that?"

"I'd like to get close to you," Shiroe said to Keith. "The professor was also telling us, 'associate yourself with someone of a higher level than yourself.' My name is Seki Ray Shiroe. Please call me Shiroe. It's nice to meet you, Senior."

Sam clenched his fist again. "What's with the 'nice to meet you?' You've been saying some rude things, kid!"

Keith stepped forward and stopped Sam from raging any more. He placed his hand on his shoulder for a moment before going past him. "Let's go."

Suena promptly followed him. "Let's go, Sam."

"Hey!" Sam took a moment to glare resentfully at Shiroe before going past him to catch up with his friends. He jogged a few steps to catch up to Keith and Suena. "You're just gonna leave him?"

"Seki Ray Shiroe," Keith said aloud. "He's a top-class elite among the new students. But he retains a rebellious attitude towards the system." Sam and Suena were both surprised. "We have instructions to keep a watchful eye on him."

* * *

As the clock struck seven a.m., the lights of the station all came to life. The barracks opened and students filed out, greeting each other with kind 'good morning's.

In the lecture hall, Suena and Keith were sitting beside each other. Sam was standing on Keith's opposite side, still fuming over encounters with the fourteen-year-old Shiroe.

"That bastard!" he growled, punching his palms.

"Calm down," Keith sighed.

"How can I keep calm? Did you hear what that Shiroe guy said?" Sam demanded. "He's been boasting that he'll try and top all the scores you got back when you started here. And he's been sniffing around the station for information on you."

"So I hear," Keith said with a noticeable lack of interest.

"You knew that? Are you okay with it?"

"I don't care. Don't worry about it."

Suena was staring worriedly at Keith, while Sam continued to prod annoyingly, "Keith…! Keith!"

* * *

"…and cinnamon milk, too. With extra manuka honey," Shiroe ordered.

From across the cafeteria, his previous group members were watching him with great distasted.

"That guy…apparently he's trying to outdo Keith," the black-haired leader said.

"There he goes talking big again," his friend said with a chuckle.

"That's just not possible," said the third friend.

"Maybe not for _you_ guys," came a fourth voice. They all looked; Shiroe was standing beside their table, holding his tray. "But I can definitely do it."

In the free time before their lecture, several students had gathered in the lecture hall to observe a live broadcast that a student was watching on his personal tablet. It was a blurry image of a distant ship in space; the camera was too far away to get a decent image, and was shaky. The ship, from what could be made out, however, was white and shaped similar to a sword.

"A pirate broadcast?" a female student asked.

"Is it a UFO or something?"

"This is a live broadcast!" The image's quality kept fluctuating, never really improving enough to see any detail on the ship.

"Apparently anyone who comes in contact with it will die," a male student gossiped.

"I heard your wishes will come true."

Sam, Suena, and Keith had entered, and were standing several rows back from the group watching the broadcast. "What's that?" Sam asked.

"A space whale," Suena answered.

"A whale?"

Concern washed over Suena's face. "The spacemen's legend. Nobody knows what it is, or whether it belongs to aliens from another planet or unknown creatures."

"Did you know about this, Keith?"

"No, I'm not interested," he replied bluntly.

Suena was watching the broadcast intently, staring at the blurry image of the ship. "It's been wandering around dark space through eternity. Nowhere to return to, and in search of something. I'd love to see it. The real thing. Especially if my wishes will come true."

"You're still the romantic girl," Sam admired. "That can't be anything more than a sailor's tall tale."

"You're right."

Keith was suddenly distracted, and looked over to the disturbance. Leaned up against the back wall of the lecture hall was a couple, kissing deeply.

"You two, what an eyesore," he snapped. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned. The two lovers looked at him in surprise. "There's nothing wrong with you getting together to comfort each other, but refrain from inconsiderate actions that can affect other people."

The two turned away from him and quickly left.

"You're so strict," Sam mumbled.

"We have a mission," Keith said. "We have no time for romantic relationships or families." Suena watched him, visibly saddened by his words. "Isn't that right, Suena?"

She blinked heavily and looked away from him, hesitating to answer. "You're right."

Without warning, the male student's tablet shut off, and the blurry white ship vanished from his screen. "Huh? It went offline."

"What's wrong?" the girl beside him asked.

The professor walked out into the lecture hall, facing his students. "We will begin our lecture! Please be seated!"

"Now, time to study!" Sam exclaimed enthusiastically. The three went to take their seats.

Shiroe was standing in the doorway, and smirked to himself. _Everyone's so infantile._

* * *

In the cafeteria, Keith approached the table were Sam was seated alone. He reached for the chair beside him, and glanced around. "Where's Suena?"

"She left," Sam replied. "She said she wasn't feeling well."

"I see."

He looked over the balcony they were beside when he heard a low rumble. Shiroe was below, riding some sort of motorcycle through the lobby. He braked and came to a stop conveniently in the center of a group of students.

"Did you build this, Shiroe?" one asked excitedly, admiring the sunset-orange bike with wide eyes.

"Yeah," Shiroe agreed.

"Awesome! Hey, let me ride it," a girl said.

"Him again," Sam spat from the upper level.

They could hear two male students gossiping nearby by the railing. "I heard he's from Energeia."

"He's in the third rank in technical studies. No wonder he's good with machines."

Sam sighed. "he doesn't seem to be a bad guy when you see him like this." Sam watched Shiroe for a moment, and then laughed.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

"I told you about my childhood friend before, right?" Sam asked, his eyes twinkling as he reminisced.

"Yeah."

Sam looked back at Shiroe and said, "I see some similarities." They could see Shiroe smiling with a genuine happiness as he showed off his fabulous invention.

"To that guy?"

"Yeah, I remember Jomy having the same kind of eyes." Sam began to picture Jomy in his mind; he'd been thinking about Jomy in the four years since his exam, and had finally managed to recollect Jomy's entire face. "He'd always look straight ahead of him, eyes shining brightly. Come to think of it, he wasn't afraid of anything. He'd be scolded by the teacher practically every time he did something…"

Sam took another long moment to think on his past. "Well, he wasn't as sarcastic as this guy," he finally added. They heard Shiroe riding his bike again, skidding across the polished floor and undoubtedly ruining it. "Jomy. I wonder how he's doing now."

Suddenly, Shiroe was beside their table on his bike, having ridden straight up the staircase. The girl student was on the back, holding onto his waist. "Keith!" He leaned over his handlebars with his usual smirk. "I beat you in the scores for subspace theory and topology."

Sam gasped. "Are you serious?"

"Should I say congratulations?" Keith asked.

"Oh, boy," Shiroe sighed, looking away. "So you have no desire to accept my challenge. There's no competition. By the way, where's your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend? Who do you mean?"

"You mean Suena?" Sam asked. "Did something happen to her?"

Shiroe glanced back at the girl on his bike. "So, I guess neither of you know."

"Eh?"

Shiroe held his face, clearly lost in some kind of fantasy he'd dreamt up. "There are things even a machine's baby doesn't know. Or rather, maybe you don't know _because_ you're a machine's baby."

Keith just stared at Shiroe in silence.

* * *

"You're getting married?" Sam yelled.

Sam and Keith sat on one side the table, while a nervous-looking Suena sat across from them. Sam jumped to his feet, launching his chair backwards. "Y-you're kidding, right?"

"He's an engineer at the space port," she said. "He's a very kind man."

"I'm not asking about that! You're so close! The way you were going, it's even possible that you'd be selected as a member of the Parthenon or national knighthood. So why?"

"I know, but…" Suena mumbled.

"You have more talent than I do," Sam insisted. "It'll be all right. I'm sure you can do it. And if you have any worries…"

"Thank you, Sam. But that's not the point. I've grown tired of chasing a dream that won't come true." She stared down at her hands.

"Then are you gonna switch to the general course and start studying all over again? You've come so far already. I can't understand you." He looked at Keith, who was sitting quietly beside him. "Hey, say something, Keith!"

Suena looked up to meet his gaze. There was a glint of hope in her eyes.

"What's there to say?" Keith asked.

Suena gasped, and she looked crushed.

"If it's something Suena's decided, then so be it," Keith said simply. "It's not something we can interfere with."

"Keith!" Sam cried.

Suena placed her hands on the table and stood from her seat. "You're right. You'll never be able to understand me." Tears were threatening to overflow from her eyes. She turned and quickly left.

"Suena!" Sam called.

"What's the matter?" Keith asked when Sam stood there, looking torn.

"What was that supposed to mean?" he asked. He was starting to tremble. "Couldn't you have said it differently? 'Then so be it?' What's that supposed to mean?" He was starting to yell.

"Sam. What are you…?"

"We've been here together all along! Don't you have any idea how Suena feels?"

"Sam."

Sam grit his teeth, glancing at Keith one last time before storming off.

* * *

 _Suena stood beneath a streetlight, still wearing her E-1077 uniform. She looked up when a man approached, and her face brightened. They embraced for a moment, and then went on their way, holding each other's waists._

On the transport ship, Suena stared out the window at the station. _Goodbye, Keith_ , she thought. Her fiancé came up to stand beside her. He kissed her forehead before sitting beside her. _Take the path you believe in… Good luck._

On the station, Sam and Keith were standing in the lounge, watching the transport ship leave through the glass. There was an uncomfortable tension between them—though it was mostly coming from Sam. Keith's face was emotionless, as usual.

Finally, Sam broke the silence. "I said too much the other day. I'm sorry, Keith."

"It's okay."

"Suena's presence was special to me," he admitted. "We grew up in the same city, and…" He placed his hand over his heart. "Well, I have some memories of her in here. So…"

Keith looked at him and stared at his face.

"I just felt that, well… I could lose the few memories I have left of her. Although, I guess in your opinion, the sooner I get rid of these memories, the more I can focus on my studies."

A familiar voice chimed in from behind them. "Marriage sounds nice. But it's essentially an escape." They turned to look, and surely enough, Shiroe was sitting on the seat right behind them. "She caved in, right? In the end, all that's left is solace."

"What?" Sam yelled.

"If that's not an appropriate term, then perhaps, 'the calming of the soul'?"

Sam clenched his fist angrily. "Why, you…" Before he could get any angrier, Keith held up his hand in front of him. "Keith!"

Shiroe looked at Keith. "You can judge the level of a person by who he associates himself with. Seeing that you're sticking around with the likes of her… I guess you're not that great a person." He stood and began to walk toward him. "Maybe you're not at my level, after all."

For the first time, Keith was sincerely frowning out of frustration toward the short, arrogant boy.

That night, Keith sat at a terminal in the darkness, illuminated only by the glow of the screen. The silence was broken when a call began to ring. Keith reached out and accepted it, and a hologram screen picturing Mother Eliza appeared.

" _What's wrong, Keith?"_ she asked. _"Your brain waves appear disturbed."_

"Mother Eliza," he said.

" _It's not like you. Is there something on your mind?"_

"It's nothing you need to worry about," he said, closing his eyes. "If you will excuse me, I have a report to submit." He ended the call, and the image faded.

* * *

Shiroe was not sleeping well.

There was an ambient noise that had filled his room all night, and even as he slept, it bothered him. He tossed and turned under his blanket, sweating profoundly. He was having a horrible nightmare; the imagery was so vast and realistic, that Shiroe was truly frightened. He could see himself when he was ten, being engulfed by a large liquid form—mercury, perhaps? He was being pulled in, and drowning. He couldn't escape or fight it.

The he would hear it. _"Seki Ray Shiroe."_

The terrible, distorted voice of the disfigured computer. The computer that oversaw his adult examination. Every time he heard the deep, feminine voice, he would start to have flashbacks to memories he hadn't been able to hold on to. He would see the faces of a man with a mustache, a gorgeous woman with a warm smile. He could see them, but he didn't recognize them. Yet he knew that he knew who they were. His mind had forgotten them, but his heart had not.

" _Throw it away. Your past…all that you remember."_

He could see the computer's physical shape suspended in front of a background of black and red. It was smiling at him with its atrocious smile, gazing at him with painfully-uneven eyes.

" _Such things are unnecessary to the SD system."_

Shiroe tangled in the blankets, gasping and grunting with fear and stress.

" _You need no will… You need no emotion…"_ The computer was staring right into his eyes. He felt like it was controlling him—like the robot was connected to him through wires, and could move him as it pleased. _"You shall concentrate on being a proper citizen and accept my instructions."_

He finally woke up, and quickly sat upright. "No!" he yelled, breathing heavily.

 _It's that dream again. Terra's Number Five,_ he thought, his mind racing. Trying to regain his composure, he looked to the side of his bed. Sitting on the blanket near the edge of the bed was the worn Peter Pan book that he had brought with him through his adult examination, and with him to E-1077. Looking at the cover calmed him, and he took a deep breath. _My book… I'm okay. I still remember._ He choked back tears. _The important things within me are all vanishing._

He finally began to cry, and hugged his knees. The book over the edge and landed face-up on the floor. "I'm scared…" he said aloud. "…I'm scared, Mom."

* * *

Shiroe sat in the lecture hall, staring intently at his tablet. Though he looked to be immersed in his studies, his mind was elsewhere. _I won't forget,_ he assured himself again, as he had for years. _I will not forget!_

He focused on his tablet screen, where a report about his home city was playing. A kind woman's voice could be heard, _"Of all the education cities on Planet Artemisia, Energeia is one city that has placed particular emphasis on raising technical experts."_

He reached out and touched the screen. _My memories are… fading away. My home town… Energeia._ He reached up and held his face, a strong grief falling over him. _Even the places I should know… There's no sense of reality. H_ e glared over at a group of students in the next row over. _The sheep that have been tamed. Someday I will also…_

He slammed his fist down on the keyboard. _No! No way! I'm… I'm…_

"Hey, did you know? About Keith Anyan," someone said. Shiroe raised his head, listening in. "I hear he has no recollection of anything before his adult examination."

"Really?"

Shiroe looked over at the students to his side, who were gossiping about Keith.

"Yeah, rumor has it that he can fit much more into his head because of his lack of memories."

"So that's the secret to his high scores."

 _He has no memory?_ Shiroe thought.

That night, Shiroe sat at his own terminal, typing furiously on the keyboard. He was in the E-1077 registry, and was searching for information on Keith. Keith's file was pulled up, and Shiroe read over it. "Number 076223. Keith Anyan of Troinus. Father: Hur, Mother: Helma, date of birth… He's no different from anyone else to this point. But…!"

Shiroe recalled his attempts to learn more about Keith from his peers. "Keith Anyan? That top elite? No, I don't remember," one male student had said.

"He arrived on the same ship I did?" a girl asked with confusion. She tried hard to remember. "Hmm… I'm not quite sure."

Shiroe resumed his typing, pulling up images of Keith captured with cameras around the station. "Not one person who, according to the records supposedly arrived from the same education city, nor those said to have arrived on the same ship, remember Keith." He found a picture of Keith meeting Suena after rescuing her four years before. "It's one thing to not remember before the adult examination, but for everyone to forget stuff _after_ the examination, as well? Is that possible?"

There was a sharp beep. A tiny window opened that read, "ERROR: No File." It flashed red at Shiroe, who stared at it. He closed it out and tried again, but the same error popped up.

"It's the same error on every attempt… I'm getting even more curious."

Shiroe walked through the hallway with his arms folded, deep in thought. _Keith Anyan. Who is this guy?_

He looked when he suddenly heard the sounds of excitement. Curious to see what was going on, Shiroe veered off to follow the noise. He entered the recreation room, where a small group of students had gathered.

 _What's going on?_ Shiroe wondered before seeing a simulator. It was an archery simulator, and standing at the end with a bow was none other than Keith Anyan, who was firing with unshakable accuracy. He was scoring perfect points. The students who had gathered were watching in awe at his skill. _Keith!_

"Keith's playing a game?" someone asked nearby.

"I guess a genius is good at everything else on top of studying," another replied.

Not far away, Sam was sitting in a seat, watching Keith. He, too, was wondering to himself, _What's up with Keith? He never comes to the recreation room._

Keith continued to hit the targets. Shiroe reentered the room through the main door, and approached.

"That's amazing, Keith!" a girl cried.

"Another hit!"

Shiroe frowned. _It's nothing special. He's getting too much attention._

He went forward, grabbed the second helmet and bow, and stepped forward to stand beside Keith. Keith looked at him for a moment, and when Shiroe met his gaze and didn't say anything, Keith looked to the man overseeing the simulation.

"Please reset it," he said.

Sam nearly jumped out of his seat. "Hey, Keith, you're accepting his challenge?"

Shiroe glared at Keith. _Who the hell are you?_ For the first time in a while, Keith glared back. Shiroe smiled at him, satisfied that Keith was finally showing some level of competitiveness. _I won't lose._

" _Ready,"_ said the simulation. Two score counters appeared in the corners, set at zero. The two young men raised their bows and prepared to battle. Keith was still, and had an emotionless expression as usual—Shiroe was chuckling, fully confident in his skills. The simulation began, and both men released their arrows at the same time and both hit the target. Their scores both bumped up to ten.

Their competition continued to rise steadily.

 _Why do you insist on challenging me?_ Keith wondered curiously.

 _Can you only shoot like a machine?_ Shiroe thought, observing Keith's playing style.

Shiroe started to gain an advantage as he managed to hit both targets at once, leaving none for Keith.

 _Keith, it's not like you,_ Sam thought. _What's going on?_

Shiroe charged one of his arrows, but missed the target. He scoffed angrily. "I missed." He prepared another arrow, but Keith hit the target before he could. "Damn!" _I won't lose! Not to that guy… Not to that guy!_

" _Time up!"_ the simulation announced. _"Keith Anyan, 1457 points. Seki Ray Shiroe, 1215 points."_

The voices of the viewers filled the recreation room. "You did it, Keith!"

"That was lame, Shiroe!"

Keith didn't look at or talk to Shiroe. He set his bow down and began to remove the simulation equipment. Shiroe took a moment to compose himself, then turned toward him. "Way to go, Senior. How about one more game?"

Keith removed his helmet. "We're done here. I'm saying we're done playing this game of tag. That settles it. Stop following me around. Later." Holding the helmet under his arm, he turned away and went to leave.

"Are you running away?" Shiroe demanded. "You coward! Yeah, you're a coward! You're not cool-headed! You just don't understand people's feelings! You're running around scared because you don't understand!"

"Shiroe, you!" Sam yelled from across the room. Keith turned to look at Shiroe, who was walking toward him.

"You have no past, no memories, and no emotions," he taunted. "There's nothing human-like about you. That's why you can't understand her feelings. I wouldn't be surprised if you're made of cold machinery under that skin!"

Keith was frowning, and was visibly growing angry. That proved Shiroe wrong all on its own—Keith's anger was definitely an emotion, and it was definitely real.

"So you _are_ the baby of Mother Eliza, after all! You are nothing but a cold, mechanical marionette."

Keith punched Shiroe square in the face.

"Keith!" Sam exclaimed.

Shiroe flew back from the hit, crashing into the staircase behind him. Keith stared at him in shock, unbelieving of what he had just done. His hand was still raised, as though he wasn't sure how to deal with what had just occurred.

Shiroe wiped the blood dripping from his lip, and smiled.

"So even machines get mad."


End file.
